


From the Rain

by mitchkat1



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Romance, all the fluff!!!, lots of cuteness and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-05-30 16:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 33,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6431398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mitchkat1/pseuds/mitchkat1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adrien is struggling to come up with a good design to submit to his father and Marinette happily agrees to help him. What started off as a simple favor slowly grows into a powerful friendship. Marinette tries to get closer to Adrien and hopes the he might one day return her feelings. Adrien finds his heart wavering in ways that he never expected. (Mostly Adrienette)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No One is Perfect

**Author's Note:**

> I just can't seem to stop writing. I've dedicated my entire vacation the working on this story, so I hope you enjoy!

“Come over here, Tikki,” Marinette said, patting her lap, instructing the little creature to come and join her. Tikki flew over and snuggled into Marinette’s lap while Marinette opened her computer browser. She typed the web address for the local Kidz+ Network’s website. On the front page of the site was exactly what Marinette was looking for, an exclusive interview with Adrien Agreste. Marinette eagerly clicked on the video and she and Tikki began to watch.

The interview began with Adrien sitting on a white couch across from the network’s host, Alec Cataldi. The bright studio lights were shining bright on him, causing him to feel flushed and overheated. He was used to modeling, but this was an entirely different beast. He looked around the studio uncomfortably while Alec introduced him.

“Welcome to an exclusive interview with hot, teen sensation and model, Adrien Agreste!” Alec clapped. The crowd offscreen erupted into cheers and hollers. Adrien waved back at the crowd, receiving even louder cries. It was obvious the audience was full of teenage girls who had a celebrity crush on the blonde model. Marinette wished she could have been a part of the audience too, but she had been busy helping out at the bakery.

“Let’s get started with some questions,” Alec continued, pulling out some notecards. “These questions have been submitted by some of Adrien’s biggest fans. Let’s see what questions they want to ask. Are you ready, Adrien?”

Adrien gave a thumbs up and a smile, eliciting more cheers. If things kept going at this rate, his eardrums were going to explode by the end of the interview.

“First question, what is a normal day in your life like?”

“Um... well, I guess I go to school in the morning, but sometimes I have photo shoots and get out of class. Depending on the day, I have either fencing, Chinese, or piano lessons. Occasionally, I have basketball as well.”

"What a well-rounded guy!” Alec laughed, slapping his knee. “If you’re looking for someone who has it all, look no further ladies!”

Adrien flushed nervously and started tapping his leg up and down. He wasn’t feeling very good. This interview might have been a mistake. It was giving the impression that he was a perfect, god-like human being which he wasn’t. His father said it would be good press and it was. However, that wasn’t something Adrien necessarily wanted.

“Next question, what’s your favorite color?”

“Green.”

“Favorite animal?”

“Cat.”

“Ladybug or Chat Noir?”

“Ladybug.” Adrien answered that question almost too quickly.

“Final question since we’re running out of time,” Alec said, reaching for his final note card. “Do you have a special someone?”

An image of Ladybug flashed through Adrien’s mind. His heart began to thump and he took a deep breath to calm himself down.  _ “I do,” _ Adrien thought to himself.  _ “But I can’t exactly tell the whole world. It’s not like she finds me that special anyways...” _

“Not yet,” Adrien answered, brushing his hair out of his face. “Maybe someday...”

“You heard it here first, folks!” Alec cried, jumping out of his seat. “Adrien Agreste is fair game. Best of luck ladies!” Alec gave the camera a thumbs up. Adrien let out a moan and buried his head in his hands. It might have been better to lie. With that, the video ended.

“Did you hear that, Tikki?” Marinette squealed. “He doesn’t like anyone. Does that mean I might have a chance?”

“I think you’re right!” Tikki grinned as she did somersaults through the air. “This is so exciting! It’s finally your chance.”

The two girls screamed to themselves and after several minutes, they finally managed to calm down. “What should I do now?” Marinette asked. “What if he falls in love with someone else? What if I’m not good enough? What if he secretly hates me and has already decided that he could never love someone like me?”

Marinette kept rattling off scenarios until Tikki finally stopped her. “Calm down, Marinette,” Tikki sighed, resting on Marinette’s shoulder. “Adrien thinks you’re a very nice girl. Just be yourself like normal. Everything will work out fine. Promise!”

“You’re right...” Smiled Marinette. “You always know what to say, Tikki. Sometimes I wish I was as wise as you.”

“You might be 5,000 years too early for that,” Tikki giggled.

The next morning, Marinette surprisingly woke up on time to get ready for school which was a blessing since she was dangerously close to being sent to see Mr. Damocles due to all her absences and late arrivals. Being Ladybug always came first which meant that Marinette’s attendance record greatly suffered.

Marinette quickly showered and changed. She tied her hair into their usual ponytails, grabbed some breakfast and some snacks for Tikki, and then headed out the door. It was bright outside and the sun was shining. The air was cool, but crisp. Marinette had the feeling that it was going to be a good day.

Marinette walked to school, nibbling on her muffin as she went. Tikki was inside her coin purse eating her own breakfast. When she reached the school’s entrance, she found Alya learning against the fence, phone in hand. Marinette wandered over and said, “Good morning, Alya!”

Alya was so surprised she almost dropped her phone. She caught it in midair before it fell to the ground. “Don’t scare me like that, girl!” Alya scolded her friend. “This is phone is still new and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“What’cha doing?” Marinette asked, leaning over to see her friend’s phone screen. Alya flipped the phone around and Marinette noticed that the Ladyblog was up.

“I’m trying to figure out if I should reformat the blog,” Alya explained. “I want to make it more user friendly and I also need to add a separate tab for Ladybug and Chat Noir photos.” Alya continued on with the list of technical improvements she needed to make and Marinette was kinda listening. All her attention vanished though when a familiar limo pulled up alongside the school.

“It’s Adrien!” Marinette shouted, grabbing Alya’s shoulders and shaking them. Alya sighed and put her phone into her back, so that Marinette could make her drop it again.

“Yes, it is,” Alya sarcastically sighed as she rubbed her temples. “If you didn’t know, he comes here everyday since this is where he goes to school. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“I just get so excited every time I see him,” Marinette dreamily replied, her thoughts in another place.  _ “He’s just so amazing and sweet and kind,”  _ she thought.  _ “It’s a gift to see him everyday. I’m so lucky!” _

“Yo, snap out of it.” Alya snapped her fingers in from of Marinette, bringing her back to reality. “You act like Adrien is perfect, but he has his flaws too. No one is superhuman. You of all people should know that.”

“I know he isn’t perfect,” Marinette agreed. “But he’s the closest you can get.”

The friends watched Adrien get out of his limo and shut the door. He walked towards the school with his hair blowing ever so slightly in the wind. His clothes were freshly ironed and neat. He held his bag at his side with a confident pose. Everything about him radiated perfection.

Adrien kept walking towards the school, completely focused. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the piece of stray trash laying on the ground and stepped right on top of it. His foot slid over it, causing him to lose his balance and come tumbling down. He let out a loud cry and fell onto the ground, right into a large puddle that had formed after the rain last night.

“Great,” Adrien muttered under his breath. “Now I’m all wet.” A quiet snicker came from inside his t-shirt that no one else could hear. With an exasperated sigh, Adrien stood up to survey the damage. He was completely soaked. There was water all over his pants and shirt. Somehow his bag had managed to stay relatively dry, but he would have to change his clothes. Thankfully, he had some spare clothes in his locker.

Adrien prepared to go inside when he saw Marinette and Alya watching him from the side. They were both laughing, probably at him. He turned red from embarrassment and then rushed inside, wanting to change as quickly as possible. He prayed that no one else had seen him fall except for those two.

“Yep, he’s perfect all right,” Alya snorted as Adrien disappeared into the school. “Perfect for you.”

“I feel bad for laughing,” Marinette said in a guilty tone. “He looked so embarrassed and I know what that feels like. I should go apologize. Besides, we should head in. Class will start soon anyways.”

“Whatever you say, girl.”

Meanwhile, Adrien had grabbed his spare clothes from his locker and was changing. Plagg was sitting in the locker, indulging in his favorite cheese.

“Your face was hilarious!” Plagg teased. “You were redder than a tomato. What a loser!”

“Ha ha, very funny, Plagg,” Adrien frowned as he put on a fresh shirt. He tossed his wet clothes into his locker and on top of Plagg. He would take them home to wash later... probably. Plagg pushed the wet clothes off him with a loud “gross”.

“Come hide,” Adrien said, opening up his shirt for Plagg to come in. Plagg tossed his cheese into the air and let it fall into his mouth, swallowing it with a large  _ gulp. _ Then he flew into Adrien’s shirt and fell asleep in his usual spot.

Back in the classroom, Marinette and Alya were coming in and Alya was relentlessly teasing Marinette about her crush on Adrien.

“Everytime he looks at you, you look like a thief that’s been caught red-handed,” Alya laughed. “You make a face like this...” Alya made a silly face and then burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard her sides were starting to hurt. Marinette pouted and crossed her arms.

_ “She isn’t wrong, but she doesn’t have to make fun of me like that.” _

“Don’t be so mean, Alya,” someone said, appearing behind the girls. It was none other than Nino who had a giant smile plastered on his face.  _ “Thank goodness,” _ Marinette sighed.  _ “Someone has come to rescue me.” _

“Her face actually looks more like this.” Nino made an even weirder face and he and Alya fell into a fit of giggles. Marinette stomped her foot in fury and angrily walked over to her desk. She didn’t need friends anyways.

“Wait... Marinette, we’re sorry!” Alya cried out, still partially laughing. Her apology didn’t sound very sincere. “Don’t be that way!” Nino added. He wiped away a few tears from his eyes. He and Alya ran up to Marinette and she turned her head away from them. “I’m not talking to either of you ever again!” She said firmly.

All of a sudden, their fake argument was interrupted by a real one.

“Sabrina, just look at this garbage!” An annoying, nasally voice said from the back of the classroom. It was resident class bitch, Chloe Bourgeois, targeting her current victim, the poor, helpless Nathanael. Chloe was holding up a piece of paper with a look of disgust.

“Is this Marinette?” She said repulsively, scrunching up her nose. “Aren’t you over that piece of trash yet? Even a low life like you could do better than her.” She and Sabrina began to cackle evilly. Chloe crushed the paper up into a ball and threw it behind her. Nathanael’s face was redder than his hair and he tried to shield his face with his hands.

Immediately enraged, Marinette bolted out of her seat and stormed up to Chloe. She stood in front of Nathanael and crossed her arms, showing her unwillingness to budge. She would be his protector if no one else had the guts to stand up for him.

“What are you doing here?” Chloe remarked. “Coming to save your princess? How quaint.”

“Knock it off, Chloe! No one thinks this is funny! Leave him alone!” Marinette leaned forward with an angry glare, causing Chloe to take a step back. Marinette looked awfully intimidating and showed no signs of backing down.  The air became thick with tension.

Adrien entered the classroom, happy to be wearing dry clothes. He was about to wave good-morning to his friends when he noticed a giant fight going on. He saw Alya and Nino watching and quickly rushed over to them.

“What’s happening?” He whispered to Nino. Nino turned to him and said, “Dude, you’re finally here. Chloe was making fun of Nathanael and Marinette totally swooped in to save the day. That girl is somethin’ alright.”

Adrien looked up at the fight and saw Marinette scold Chloe again. Her tone was strong and fierce, something Adrien hadn’t except to hear out of the small girl. She held her ground and stood firm. Her attitude remind Adrien a bit of Ladybug.

_ “She’s amazing...” _ Adrien thought as he watched Marinette wide-eyed. As Adrien, he never had the guts to do anything. He struggled to voice his opinion of anything without sounding wishy-washy. Marinette was different though. She had no superhero mask to hide behind, yet she still managed to be a hero. She fought for others and protected those in need. It was admirable to say the least and it was a quality Adrien was jealous of.

Chloe prepared to sling another insult at Marinette when she saw Adrien watching them from afar. She shut her mouth and turned around to Sabrina. “Let’s go,” Chloe huffed in a haughty tone. “I don’t need to waste my time with these two losers anyway.” She and Sabrina hurried to their desks with Chloe stopping to wink at Adrien as she went. Adrien gagged at the sight.

Marinette picked up Nathanael’s crumpled drawing and flattened it out. Once she got to look at it, she realized it was a picture of her and a beautiful one at that. She didn’t know Nathanael still had a crush on her, but was flattered by the kind gesture. She handed the drawing back to him with a smile. 

“It’s very good,” Marinette told him. Nathanael looked up, his eyes meeting her crystal blue ones. He blushed again, but this time it was for a good reason. He gingerly took the picture back and nodded. “Thank you...” He whispered softly.

Marinette returned to her seat where Alya was waiting for her. “Way to go,” Alya congratulated her friend. The girls exchanged fist-bumps as Marinette sat in her chair.  _ “What a way to start the day,”  _ Marinette rolled her eyes.  _ “Someday Chloe will really get what’s coming to her.” _

“Marinette,” Adrien said, turning around to see her. He put his hand on her desk. Marinette, not ready for the sudden Adrien interaction, let out a squeak and an anxious, “Y-yeah?”

“That was really cool what you did back there,” Adrien smiled. The sight of his smile was enough to make Marinette weak. His teeth were perfectly white yet the front two bucked out in a cute way. His lips outlined the smile like a beautiful painting in a frame. Quite literally, his smile was a work of art.

“It was nothing,” Marinette humbly replied. Adrien shook his head. “No, it really was amazing,” he continued. “I’m jealous. I wish I had the courage to stand up to people like that.”

Marinette felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Adrien was complimenting her. He was jealous of her. “Thank you...” She replied meekly.

Adrien was about to turn around when Marinette called out, “Wait!” He turned back around with a curious glance. “I...err...” Marinette stammered, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. “I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn’t have laughed when you...um... fell. That was rude of me.”

“It’s fine,” Adrien smiled again. “I would have laughed too.” Just to prove his point, he laughed the charming laugh Marinette remembered from the moment she fell in love with him. It made her heart sing. She began to laugh alongside him.

Once the laughter subsided, both the teens returned to themselves. Marinette found herself staring at the back of Adrien’s head in longing. Adrien had begun to talk with Nino.

“So how’s that design thing for your pops comin’ along?’ Nino asked his seatmate. Adrien groaned, remembering something he had been trying to forget. His father had requested that he submit an original design for some business executive friends. It was just another way for his father to show off how “perfect” his son was. The problem was that Adrien didn’t know the first thing about designing. He had made some rough sketches, but they were all pretty bad. He was in a predicament to say the least.

“Not good, dude,” Adrien confessed with a sigh. “I have no idea what I’m doing. Everything looks like a little kid scribbled it. Father is going to be so mad when he sees my designs.

“Aren’t you lucky that one of the most talented fashion designers in Paris sits right behind you?” Nino said, cheekily raising one eyebrow. “Perhaps you should ask her for assistance?”

Adrien glanced back at Marinette.  _ “Of course!”  _  Adrien thought.  _ “Obviously, I should ask Marinette. Why didn’t I think of that before?” _

“Nino, you’re a genius!” Adrien thanked his friend. Nino grinned confidently and replied, “It comes and goes.”

Adrien turned back to Marinette who was now taking out her homework. “Hey Marinette, one last thing!” He said excitingly. Marinette sharply looked up and almost dropped her homework. She grabbed it out the air and slammed it onto her desk. “Hmm... what?” Marinette replied quickly, biting on her nails.

“You see, I’m doing this design thing for my father and I need a lot of help. Would you be able to help me? It’s okay if you can’t since this is sorta late notice and all, but...”

“I’ll help you.”

“You will?”

“Y-yeah, of course.”

“Sweet! Can I meet you in the library after school to work on them?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“See you then!”

Adrien swiveled back around and did a little fist pump. If anyone could help him, it would be Marinette. He wouldn’t disappoint his father this time.  _ “Hopefully she goes easy on me,” _ Adrien wished.  _ “My designs are pretty bad compared to the amazing things she comes up with!” _

While Adrien was celebrating his success, Marinette had stopped functioning completely. Her face was blank, her eyes staring straight forward.

_ “I’m going on a library date with Adrien...”  _ The words repeated in her head over and over. It wasn’t a real date, but it was close enough to count.

_ “I hope I don’t screw this up!” _


	2. The Library Date

As soon as school ended, Marinette ran to the library at the speed of light. Adrien had to ask Ms. Bustier something, so he promised to meet her there in a few minutes. Marinette entered the library and was relieved to see that no one else was there. That made her feel more at ease. She didn't want anyone watching her and Adrien. It would add more pressure to the whole experience.

Marinette picked out a table and sat down in its chair. She opened her purse and nervously smiled at Tikki. "Calm down," Tikki whispered from the purse. "You'll do fine. You're Ladybug after all!" Tikki winked.

Marinette calmly nodded her head. " _I'm Ladybug! I can do this! I've handled way worse situations than this before."_ She thumped her fingers across the table, patiently waiting for Adrien to come. She took a pencil and some paper out of her bag in case she needed them. Marinette wasn't completely sure what Adrien needed help with, but she would do the best she could.

Five minutes breezed by and Adrien still hadn't come. Marinette glanced up at the clock anxiously. "What if he's not coming?" She moaned, her head falling onto the table. "What if I've been stood up?" Tikki was about to point out that Adrien was a gentleman and would never do such a thing when Adrien came bursting into the library, out of breath.

"Marinette!" He exclaimed when he saw her. "Thank goodness. I thought you might have left." He came over and took a seat beside her. "I'm sorry I took so long," he profusely apologized. "When I was done talking to Ms. Bustier, Chloe asked me to go out with her this evening, but I told her I was busy with you and that turned into a whole other thing."

Marinette winced at the mention of her and Chloe's name together. " _Awesome,"_ Marinette sighed to herself. " _I guess I should expect an earful from the Queen Bee tomorrow."_ It wasn't Adrien's fault that he let their little "library date" slide. He didn't seem to pick up on Chloe's intense jealousy or Marinette's crush for that matter. He was a naive and oblivious boy.

"Ah... let's just get started then," Marinette smiled. She wanted to see Adrien's designs. Surely the son of Gabriel Agreste had fashion designing capabilities. It had to be in his blood. Adrien rustled around in his bag and pulled out a stack of papers. He laid them out on the table for Marinette to see.

"What do you think?" Adrien asked. Marinette looked across all the designs and what she saw completely shocked her. Simply put, they were bad.

" _I expected some beginner's mistakes, but some of these are flat out terrible,"_ Marinette thought, staring at the dozens of designs. " _He made so many and not a single one is good. How is that even possible? Alya was right. You can't be perfect at everything..."_

"They're bad, aren't they?" Adrien said sadly after Marinette's long pause of silence. Marinette looked up from the designs and saw the dejected look on Adrien's face. He seemed really hurt by her lack of words. She couldn't tell him the truth completely.

"They're not... bad per se," Marinette replied quickly, trying to recover the situation. "They just need some work here and there. I think all of these designs have... potential." Yes, that was the word she was looking for.

"You think so?" Adrien exclaimed. His face brightened, causing Marinette's heartbeat to rapidly rise. " _This isn't good for my poor heart,"_ Marinette internally groaned. " _But I should try to help him the best I can."_

"You can definitely make something out of this," Marinette continued. "But there are a lot of problems to. For example, look at this design. It isn't practical. I can't imagine any seamstress in the world who could make something like this. And then there's this one. It isn't comfortable. This design would be too heavy and this one is too light."

Marinette went on to critique each one of Adrien's designs. Each one had some fatal flaw that hadn't even crossed his mind. He listened closely as Marinette picked apart his designs, taking notes on how to improve. Her knowledge about fashion was impressive. It probably could rival his father's.

After about twenty minutes, Marinette had gone through all the designs and Adrien had filled three whole pages notebook pages with notes. "Wow," Adrien remarked. "It looks like I have a lot to learn."

"Everyone does at the beginning," Marinette smiled, recounting her own personal experiences. She, like Adrien, had been awful when she began. Her designs were a mess and she couldn't even recall the number of times she had pricked herself with a needle. But with practice came knowledge and skill. It was only through the pain and mistakes that she could be as good as she was now.

"What's all this for if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Marinette shyly. "I didn't know you had an interest in fashion before this." And she knew everything about him, so this was quite a surprise.

"It's for my father," Adrien explained. "He wanted me to design something to show off to some colleagues of his. I don't want to embarrass him, so I needed some help."

"You could never embarrass him. He thinks you're absolutely perfect."

"It doesn't seem that way," Adrien sighed sadly. Marinette frowned as she watched Adrien's expression change when thinking about his father. The poor boy thought his father used him merely as a pawn. It was rare for his father to show affection or any words of kindness. After his mother disappeared, Adrien basically grew up all alone, trapped inside a dusty, cold mansion.

But Marinette knew this wasn't true. Gabriel loved his son immensely, but couldn't seem to show it. When she had visited the Agreste mansion as Ladybug, Gabriel had shown her all the wonderful pictures of Adrien he had plastered on the walls. He called his son "perfect" and she had seen the proud look of a father on his face. Marinette wished she could tell Adrien that he was wrong, but she couldn't do that without revealing her secret. She would have to convince him through other means.

"We'll just have to prove him wrong then!" Giggled Marinette. She placed her hand on top of Adrien's and gave him an encouraging smile. He looked up at her and saw the confidence in her eyes. " _Those eyes..."_ Adrien thought for a moment. " _They're so familiar and warm."_ Marinette and Adrien's eyes met for a moment and all went quiet. They were lost in the eyes of the other.

Finally, Marinette pulled away, removing her hand from Adrien's. " _What am I doing?"_ She scolded herself. " _He probably thinks you're weird now, just touching him out of the blue like that. Time to get things back on track."_

"Do y-you...err... just need to submit one design to your father?" Marinette asked nervously. Adrien nodded and watched Marinette search through the piles of paper until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a particular design and set it in front of Adrien. "I like this one the most," she said. "It still needs a lot of work, but it's definitely the best."

"What should I do?" Adrien looked down at the design and agreed that it was one of his favorites. Still, the design was clumsy and awkward. The lines were sketchy and not straight at all. It was difficult to make out parts of the design. He intended for it to be a medium length skirt that was red with black spots. The top was a tighter fitting blouse with looser sleeves. It would be the same red as the skirt. There was a matching spotted headband and a pair of red flats. He had even sketched a bracelet to go with it (which looked like nothing more than circle really). This was what he had intended, but the design didn't really look like that. It wasn't even colored, so Marinette couldn't tell what colors Adrien had intended. He was glad she liked it though. It was his favorite because of its inspiration.

Marinette took back the design and thought about it for a moment. Then, there was a small smirk on her face. "I didn't catch this before since you didn't use color," she smiled slyly. "But this is based on Ladybug, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah...actually."

"I have just the thing then."

Grabbing her pencil, Marinette began to furiously draw over the design. She drew over the lines and erased the old sketchy ones. She added details where Adrien had forgotten them. The skirt gained a different hemline and had the spots strategically placed along the fabric. The blouse was given a design near the neckline and Marinette wrote down which stones and which charm would be needed to make the bracelet. For the most part though, she kept the integrity of the original design, cleaning it up here and there. Once she finished, it looked like a real design.

When Marinette was finished, she was about to show Adrien when she heard an irritated grunt from behind her. Both she and Adrien turned around to see Chloe hovering over the table. Her hands were on her hips and she was snarling. "Adri-honey," she said in a whiney voice. "Why are you here with her?" She said "her" like it was some kind of infectious disease.

"And what's this?" Chloe asked, plucking Adrien's design out of Marinette's hands. It was a repeat of what happened with Nathnael earlier. Chloe never seemed to learn her lesson.

"Is this yours Mari-trash?" Gagged Chloe. "I've never seen anything uglier. No one would be caught dead in something like that."

"Chloe..." Marinette growled. Ignoring her, Chloe continued on. "I could make something better than this. Even a monkey could make something better than this. Let me just put this in the trash right now where it belongs!" Chloe laughed snobbishly and Marinette was about ready to punch her in the face.

"It's that bad, huh," Adrien said quietly, not having the courage to stand up for himself in front of Chloe. He glanced down at all his awful designs and thought, " _Maybe I should just give up on this. I'm no good anyways."_

"Apologize to Adrien right now!" Marinette yelled, slamming her fists on the table. "He worked really hard on that. Who gives you the right to criticize him like that? At least he tried his best and didn't steal his design from other people!"

Chloe blinked a few times as she processed what Marinette was saying. "Wait..." Chloe said slowly. "Adrikins designed this?" Adrien gave an uncomfortable smile and said, "Uh, yeah..."

There was a moment of silence between the three. Marinette was fuming and trying to hold herself back. Adrien was sulking in a vat of pity. Chloe realized that she royally screwed up and had better turn things around real fast.

"... Oh, Adrien, I was just kidding. This design is lovely. I could have my daddy make it if you want. I'd gladly wear it. Not even top designers could compare to this," Chloe smiled, throwing herself over Adrien. Her grip on his shoulders made him uncomfortable. He tried to nudge her off, but she wouldn't budge.

"That's enough, Chloe," Marinette said, pulling Chloe off of Adrien. The force of her pull surprised Chloe. She didn't think a stringbean like Marinette could be so strong. "Why don't you go home and put a sock in it? You've done enough damage here already, don't you think?"

Chloe huffed and turned her head away. "Fine," she said sourly. "I was going to leave anyway. I just wanted to check on my sweet Adrien and make sure that you weren't bothering him." Chloe stomped away and opened the library door. Before she left, she shouted back to Adrien, "Text me later, Adrikins!" Then, the library door slammed shut.

Once Chloe left, Marinette slid into her chair and sighed. Leave it Chloe to turn everything she touched into a disaster. She looked over at Adrien who seemed very distraught. Chloe's words hurt him deeply.

"Don't listen to her," Marinette smiled. "She only said those bad things because she thought the design was mine. She secretly thought it was really good, but couldn't admit that. She's just jealous."

"Is this what it feels like to be a victim of Chloe?" Adrien moaned. There was a sad pout on his face. "I didn't realize she was so awful."

"You get used to it," Marinette shrugged. "But sometimes, you have to stand up and put her in her place otherwise she'll walk all over everyone."

"I wish I could do that. You're way braver than me, Marinette."

"That's not true. Everyone has a bit of bravery in them. I bet you could put up a fight if you wanted."

Adrien chuckled at her comment. If only she knew how true that was. Chat Noir would fight any akuma without hesitation, but Adrien couldn't even say a few words to some her considered a childhood "friend". The power of a mask was incredible indeed.

All of a sudden, Adrien's phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his bag and saw a text from Nathalie, asking him to come home. "Sorry, I have to go now," Adrien said quickly. He and Marinette gathered all of Adrien's designs and placed them in a neat pile with the design they decided on on the top.

"Thanks for all the help," Adrien smiled, looking at the design that Marinette had fixed for him. It looked fantastic now. It was so detailed and there were notes all over. Adrien still had to go back through to color and edit some things, but with Marinette's notes, he thought he would be fine.

"It was nothing..." Marinette replied politely. Adrien ripped off a corner of one the designs and took Marinette's pencil. He scribbled something on there and then handed it to her. "It's my number," Adrien said. "In case I need your help again, I want you to have it. And it would be nice to...ummm... talk to you more often."

Marinette stared at the number in awe. " _Adrien is giving me his phone number? Is this a dream?_ " Marinette thought. " _Of course, I already have his number, but he doesn't know that, so I'll pretend that I don't."_

Marinette put the number in her purse and then ripped off a piece of another design. She wrote her number down and handed it to Adrien. "This is mine," she said softly. "And about talking more, I also think that would be nice..."

"Great," Adrien beamed. He put the phone number in his bag and then checked the time. "I really have to get going. See you tomorrow, Marinette. Thanks for all the help again!" Adrien ran out of the library.

Marinette quickly opened her purse and was greeted by an annoyed Tikki. She was holding the piece of paper with Adrien's phone number. "What is this piece of paper you threw at me?" Tikki yawned. "I was sleeping and then suddenly attacked by this!"

"It's Adrien's phone number!" Marinette squealed. Tikki's eyes widened. "He gave you his number?" She exclaimed. "Oh, Marinette! This is amazing! You did it. You really did it! I'm so proud of you."

Tikki flew out of the purse and nuzzled the girl's cheek. "This is like a dream..." Marinette said, putting her hand to her heart. Tikki giggled at the lovesick girl. Things were getting off to a good start.

Adrien was heading out of the school to meet his limo when Plagg popped his head out of his shirt. "Well that was cute... NOT!" Plagg said in a disgusted tone. "How many girls do you give your number to, huh, Romeo?"

"She's the first one," Adrien replied honestly. "Chloe kinda just took it and Alya only has it because Nino told her, so that makes Marinette the first one."

"Looks like this wittle baby is taking his first steps in love," Plagg joked. Adrien gave him a harsh glare. "It's not like that, Plagg," Adrien retorted. "Marinette is just a friend. Besides, you know I love Ladybug, so why even joke about that?"

"That is the joke," Plagg sniggered to himself. Adrien ignored him and saw the limo outside the school. He ran to it and jumped it. He was greeted by a brief grunt from the Gorilla. As the limo drove, Adrien opened his bag and pulled out the design Marinette had fixed for him.

He really liked it now and hoped that he could make it even better. He would be eternally indebted to Marinette. This was something he could be proud of now. And maybe someday, he would be able to show it to Ladybug. It was inspired by her. She'd either find it endearing or slightly creepy. Probably a mixture of both.


	3. What Do You Get at a Fancy Restaurant?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the people who order chicken tenders at restaurants, you are not alone...

By the time the weekend rolled around, Adrien decided that he had to do something to pay back Marinette. She had been yelled at by Chloe and defended him. She helped him revise his design too. Adrien had the feeling that Marinette was willing to through hell and back to help him out and he needed to repay the favor. No, he wanted to repay the favor.

"Are you thinking about your girlfriend?" Plagg teased as Adrien sat his desk, thinking about what to do for Marinette. "I think she's cute," Plagg continued. "You could do way worse."

"Shut up, Plagg. I told you she isn't my girlfriend." Adrien gave an irritated groan and glared at his kwami friend. Plagg seemed to have it driven in his mind that Adrien and Marinette were dating and he refused to let it go. The black cat brought it up at every possible moment and it was starting to get on Adrien's nerves.

"Besides, she doesn't even like me like that," Adrien continued. "We're just friends and you out of all people should know that I love Ladybug. I've told you that before."

"Trust me, I know. I've almost thrown up just looking at your lovesick eyes or sickeningly sweet flirting. Yuck!"

Adrien rolled his eyes and decided to ignore Plagg. He tossed the cat some cheese, knowing that would shut him up for a while. Plagg caught the cheese mid-air and began to nibble on it. Finally, there would be some peace and quiet.

" _Maybe I should do something simple,"_ Adrien sighed to himself. " _I should just take her out to eat. Girls like food, right?"_ Adrien grabbed his phone and began to call Marinette. He put her number in directly after their meeting in the library, but this was the first time he had used it. He hoped that she would recognize the number and respond. Adrien pressed call and waited for the other end to pick up.

" _Please pick up..."_

Adrien was oddly nervous and antsy. He didn't know why he felt so on edge. It must have been his nerves after dealing with Plagg. It would take a saint to deal with that creature on a daily basis.

"Hello?" The other end finally picked up.

"Marinette? Hey, it's me, Adrien."

"A-Adrien! H-Hi... umm... what's up?"

Marinette had been working on a design on her own when her phone began to ring. She was in the middle of stitching something, so had Tikki fly the phone over. Tikki pressed answer and held the phone up to Marinette's ear where she cupped it between her ear and shoulder. She proceeded to sew while talking on the phone. Well, that was the plan until she heard who was on the other end. She had so shocked, she almost let the phone slip. Marinette put down her sewing and grabbed the phone in her hands. Adrien had actually called her!

"I was wondering if you'd like to go out to eat with me as a special treat of mine as thanks for helping me out with my design," Adrien replied. For some reason, his palms were getting sweaty and his shirt seemed to be choking him. He pulled the collar away from his neck, hoping to gain a breath of fresh air. Plagg watched him pace around the room as he talked on the phone.

"Go out to eat?" Marinette repeated. "Of course! That would be great!"

"Really? I'll pick you up in an hour then, right outside the bakery! Bye, Mari!"

Adrien ended the call and tossed his phone onto his bed, narrowly missing Plagg. He took a deep breath and wiped his face with the back of his hand. " _I'm so glad that went well..."_

"You seemed awfully nervous about inviting someone who isn't your girlfriend on a date?"

"Can it, Plagg!"

Marinette got off the phone and looked over at Tikki who was dying to know the details. "What did he say?" Tikki squeaked eagerly. She was just as excited as Marinette. Marinette thoughts were a mess and she tried to sort through her words.

"He asked me out on a date. Again!" Marinette exclaimed. She shot out of her chair and ran over to her closet. "What should I wear? It has to be something nice, but if it's too nice he'll think I'm trying too hard. Should I change up my hair? Should I leave it down or will that look bad?"

Tikki flew over by her companion and ran her eyes across all the options in the closet. A certain outfit caught her eye and it would go perfectly with a hairstyle that Tikki had always wanted Marinette to try. "Leave it to me!" The kwami smiled proudly. "I'll make sure you're the prettiest girl Adrien has ever seen!"

In the end, Tikki picked out a slightly oversized pink sweater that Marinette had gotten for her birthday. She paired it with a white skirt that went almost to her knees. She wore her white converse with black accents. To top it all off, Tikki tied her hair into two buns, a new hairstyle for Marinette. Once Tikki was finished fixing Marinette's hair, Marinette finally got to see herself in the mirror.

"You were right, Tikki," Marinette beamed. "This looks really good. I especially love the hair. You're the best!"

Marinette heard her name get called from downstairs. It was her mother and that meant Adrien must be here. She grabbed her purse and Tikki flew inside. After snapping it shut, she slung it over her shoulder and rushed down the stairs. Standing at the entrance was Adrien who was standing near her parents.

When Adrien pulled up to the bakery, he had been nervous. When he opened the door and saw her parents, his nerves skyrocketed even higher. Marinette's father had opened the door and he suddenly seemed more intimidating than Adrien had first remembered.

"Hi," Adrien waved weakly. "I'm here to pick up Marinette." Tom's eyes lit up and he called his wife over. Sabine came to the door and greeted Adrien. "Hello, darling," Sabine smiled, gesturing for Adrien to enter the bakery. "Marinette's getting ready. I'll call her down. She's probably very excited about your date."

Sabine went to go call Marinette, leaving Tom and Adrien alone. Adrien tapped his foot nervously as he waited for Marinette. He made casual glances at Tom who seemed to be staring at him. After a few seconds, Tom said in a low tone, "You know, Sabine and I's first date was when we were fifteen too." There was a cheeky smile on his face.

Adrien gave him a confused look and replied, "That's... great. You must've been married to her for a long time then."

Finally Marinette came down, breaking the slightly awkward moment between him and Tom. When Adrien laid eyes on her, he almost fell over since he was so stunned. Marinette looked absolutely beautiful. Of course, she always looked nice, but this was something else. She obviously put a lot of work into her outfit.

" _Wow..."_ was the only thing in his mind. Then he felt embarrassed for dressing so plainly. He was wearing his usual blue jeans, black t-shirt, and button up-white shirt. If the two of them were side by side, Marinette would be the one who looked like a model.

" _Wouldn't Ladybug look good in something like that?"_ was the next thought that crossed Adrien's mind. Marinette had a similar body shape to his lady and if something looked good on her, it would be just as beautiful on Ladybug. That was something he would never have the luxury of seeing though.

"Should we go?" Marinette smiled as she approached Adrien. He nodded and opened the door for her. Marinette gave both her parents kisses on the cheeks and stepped out the door, Adrien at her heels. She was met with a giant limo. That wasn't exactly the mode of transportation she had been expecting. She honestly thought they were just going to walk.

Adrien helped Marinette into the car and then got in next to her. The limo drove away from the bakery, leaving the two teens to come up with conversation on their own. Neither of them knew what to say. Both of them were internally panicking though for different reasons. Marinette was over the moon about being in a car with Adrien while Adrien was feeling guilty about being underdressed.

Eventually, the limo came to a stop outside Le Grand Paris. Marinette and Adrien hopped out and Marinette stared up at the hotel in awe. She had been there before on a class trip and during multiple akuma attacks, but she had never been invited out to eat at it's award winning restaurant. Coincidentally, the chef was Alya's mom who Marinette knew pretty well.

Adrien took Marinette up to the restaurant where they were immediately seated. The place was fairly busy which was strange because Marinette had only ever been there when it was empty. A waiter placed two menus in front of the pair and asked them for their drink order. Both said water would be fine.

Once the waiter left, Marinette flipped through the menu. Some of the items seemed like something out of a fairytale. _Caviar. Escargot. Fried Octopus. Liver. Bird Nest Soup._ The idea of all those things made Marinette sick to her stomach. Hopefully there was something normal on the menu. Finally, she found what she was looking for. _Burger._

"You know," Marinette said with a laugh. "I never eaten at a fancy restaurant like this before. I can't even pronounce half the stuff on this menu!"

"It's okay," Adrien smiled. "I'm the same. Do you want to know a secret?" He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I usually just get chicken tenders." Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. Adrien wasn't nearly as fancy as she thought if he still ordered something that was commonly found on kids' menus. It put her heart a little at ease.

The waiter came back with their drinks and took their orders. He came back with the food relatively quickly. Marinette was surprised, but assumed when you were paying 30 € for a couple chicken tenders, who probably wanted your food fairly quickly. Marinette noted that the price of food here was steep, but she wouldn't let Adrien pay for her portion. She had saved up enough money for a time like this.

Marinette and Adrien ate quietly, drifting in and out of casual conversation. While they ate, an alert popped up on Marinette's phone. Alya had updated the Ladyblog. Adrien's phone received the same update. They both reached for their phones and read the screens.

"Looks like Alya's at it again," Marinette giggled. "I've never met someone that obsessed with Ladybug."

"I could think of one other person..." Adrien said with a sly smile. Marinette raised an eyebrow, but didn't ask. A certain kitty cat crossed her mind.

"You're a fan of Ladybug, aren't you?" Marinette asked. She was completely flattered that Adrien was a fan of hers. It stung a little bit since he didn't like Marinette the same way, but it was still good. And a great opportunity to do some digging presented itself. "What do you like about Ladybug?"

Adrien thought to himself for a moment and then said, "So many things like her bravery and kindness. Not to mention her sarcastic wit and she's really cute..." Adrien found himself going through a long list of qualities about Ladybug. As he went on, Marinette went pinker and pinker especially when Adrien called her cute. Her body temperature began to rise and she thought she might boil over after that comment.

"All in all, Ladybug is just a great hero," Adrien sighed, imaging his lady in all her glory. "But a great hero always has to have her partner," Marinette added, bringing her silly tomcat into the conversation. "What about Chat Noir? He's fun and also very attractive."

Marinette couldn't fault Chat Noir that. Even with a mask over his face, he was a handsome boy. Not as handsome as Adrien though.

It was Adrien's turn to turn red after Marinette called him attractive. He was a model and was used to getting comments like that, but from Marinette it felt a little different. It felt more genuine and he was happy to know that she also liked his alter ego.

"Chat Noir is a pretty cool cat," Adrien grinned with a flip of his hair. Marinette rolled her eyes in response as she thought about Chat Noir. No one else knew him the way she did. He definitely wasn't as cool as everyone thought he was.

"He's kinda a goofball," laughed Marinette as she took another bite of her burger. "He's always making stupid puns and runs headfirst into danger without thinking things through. Without Ladybug, he would be a goner. But he's lovable to say the least and he has a good heart."

Adrien agreed and then began to dig into his chicken tenders.

"How has school been?" Marinette asked, picking up the conversation again. "I know that it must be tough with all you being a model and all. It must be a lot of work."

Adrien shook his head. "I don't mind. It's nice to be able to go to school and be a normal kid for once. Ever since I was little, I've been homeschooled so all this is a breath of fresh air. It's the freedom I've always wanted."

"It was pretty obvious that you weren't used to school since the day you came in. Do you remember the first time Ms. Bustier took attendance?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. I looked like a complete idiot."

"Maybe a little bit..."

"Do you remember how mad at me you were when we first met?" Adrien reminisced. Marinette thought Adrien had put gum on her seat and was in cahoots with Chloe and Sabrina. She had a pretty negative impression of him, but hadn't let him explain himself. Not that he could blame her. Anyway floating around Chloe was usually bad news.

"That was my fault," Marinette replied shyly. She thought about that moment often. Adrien had apologized, but she never had. She judged him too quickly and that made her no better than Chloe. "Sorry about all that."

Another memory drifted through Marinette's mind and it was one of her most precious ones. She wondered if Adrien found it as significant as she did.

"Hey, Adrien..." She spoke so quietly her voice was almost a whisper. Adrien took a sip of his water and looked up at her. "Do you remember..." Marinette continued. "When you gave me your umbrella?"

"Vaguely," Adrien said, sifting through his memories trying to recall that. He remembered offering Marinette his umbrella as forgiveness for the gum incident. Now that he thought about it, it was the first time she started acting so jittery around him. She had it fairly under control now, but before they could hardly exchange two sentences without her running away.

"Why do you ask, Marinette?"

"It's nothing... It was just kind of a special moment. For the first time, I got to see the real you." Marinette omitted the part where she fell deeply in love with him. That was for another time. Adrien deeply blushed at her remark. That had been the first time that he had truly shown his true self off to another. He was a bit ashamed that he almost forgot all about it.

After a few minutes, the pair had finished eating and Adrien escorted Marinette back down to the hotel's lobby. "I had a great time," Marinette told Adrien gratefully. "Thank you so much."

"It's the least I could do after you helped me out so much. Besides, it was fun to hang out with a friend."

_Friend._

Marinette looked up at Adrien and noticed that he was smiling. " _He looks so happy to be spending time with someone,"_ Marinette bit her lip. " _He probably doesn't get to go out like this. I bet he's overworked most of the time. He deserves more than just an hour long lunch break."_

Marinette and Adrien stepped outside the hotel and noticed that limo wasn't there yet. "We'll have to wait for a minute," Adrien explained. He pulled out his phone, prepared to text Nathalie. He seemed sad to be parting so soon.

The white limo was coming into view down the road when Marinette did something rash. She grabbed Adrien's hand and asked, "Are you okay with breaking the rules for a bit?" She wanted to spend more time with him and also didn't want him to be forced to go back home so soon. If she had her way, she had another plan in mind.

Adrien gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes... I guess."

"Then let's see how fast you can run, rich boy!"


	4. A Date at the Louvre

Marinette was well-known for making rash decisions. She didn't always think things through and in a panic, she sometimes resorted to taking things that weren't hers, usually cellphones. This, however, had to be the most impulsive decision she had ever made, but she knew she wouldn't regret a single moment of it.

She took off sprinting away from the limo. Adrien looked at her with wide eyes and then glanced back at his limo. He could see the Gorilla waiting patiently in the driver's seat, expecting Adrien to obediently make his way over and enter the car. Nathalie was beside him looking through Adrien's schedule for the rest of the day. Marinette was several paces in front of him now and if he didn't chase after her, she would disappear amongst the crowd.

Adrien took one last look at his car and thought, " _Screw that! For once in my life, I'm gonna have a little fun!"_

"Hang on, Plagg!" Adrien whispered to the kwami who was sleeping in his shirt. He sprinted off towards Marinette at full-speed, hoping to catch up to her. He could hear the confused shouts of the Gorilla and Nathalie, but didn't stop moving. He just kept running and there was no one that could stop him.

He caught up to Marinette who was laughing hysterically. Her laughter was so cheery and infectious that Adrien began to laugh too. His blood was pumping and he felt an adrenaline rush. This was the best he had felt in a long time. He and Marinette continued to run throughout the busy sidewalks, accidentally jostling people, but not bothering to apologize. They were having too much fun to stop and they had no destination in mind.

Marinette felt her breath become short and her legs grow heavy. There was a thin layer of sweat on her face and her buns were starting to fall out. She put up a hand in defeat and took a deep breath. "I think we should stop here," she panted. "I'm exhausted!"

She sat down on a nearby bench and tried to calm her breathing. It was unusual for her to do that much physical exercise as Marinette. That was normally reserved for Ladybug. Adrien sat down beside her and she could hear his heavy breath as well. There was a giant smile on his face and he began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Marinette asked, wiping the sweat away from her face. "Are you laughing at me?"

"Huh? No," exclaimed Adrien defensively . "I'm just laughing because that was the craziest thing I think I've ever done in my life."

Marinette snorted and then covered her mouth. That probably didn't sound very attractive, but it caused Adrien to laugh even more. She giggled alongside him for a while and then said, "I'm glad we did that."

"Me too even if I might get in trouble later, but strangely, I'm not worried. I just don't really care right now."

Adrien's expression looked liberated. He seemed relaxed and at ease. Marinette had never seen him this way before. Adrien always worked hard to keep up appearances, but all the guards seemed to be down now. He was laughing freely and not even thinking about his father. Marinette smiled, knowing that she made the right decision to run away with him.

Once both the teens had calmed down a bit, they realized that they were sitting in the middle of Paris with nothing to do. They hadn't run away with a plan and they had the whole day to burn.

Marinette looked up and saw that they were only a block away from the Louvre. "Hey, Adrien?" Marinette said, taking his hand. "Do you want to go look at fancy art?"

Adrien stood up and helped Marinette to her feet. "That would be absolutely delightful," he smiled.

They walked to the Louvre and were relieved to see that it wasn't too busy. Museums weren't as fun when you were there with thousands of your closest friends. When they got to the entrance, Adrien offered to pay for Marinette's ticket, but she refused. Instead, she paid for his. She called it her "special treat".

To begin their visit, they admired the Louvre Pyramid, a great architectural beauty of glass. " _It's so simple, but also really beautiful,"_ Marinette thought as she and Adrien walked down into the museum. The Louvre Pyramid held a special spot in her heart since it was the site of many akuma attacks. She fought the Pharaoh here and saved Alya's life. She also fought the Mime and had her first encounter with Adrien as Ladybug. A slight blush tinged her cheeks at the memory.

"Mari, look at this one!" Adrien said, running over to a painting. The painting was an oil painting probably from the 1700s. It was off a black cat sleeping on a wall. Marinette wondered why Adrien was so enthusiastic about it. It was only a picture of a cat.

"It's so cool!" Adrien remarked. He got as close to the painting as he could. "Do you think there's a resemblance?" He asked. Marinette raised an eyebrow and looked at the cat. How much could a cat and Adrien have in common? But after she looked at the paining for a moment, she realized that there was something that the two strangely shared. She couldn't put her finger on what, but there was definitely something about Adrien that reminded her of a cat.

"I can see it," Marinette giggled. "Wait, what about this one?" She pointed at a picture of a garden, painted with pastels and light brush strokes. Something about the painting drew her in. It was pleasant and made her feel like she was outside enjoying a warm, spring day.

"It suits you," said Adrien as he joined Marinette. She nodded in agreement. She wrote down the name of the painting so she could look it up when she got home. It would be nice to have something like that hanging in her bedroom.

Next, the duo entered a hall of portraits. Some of them were realistic while others were morphed or disfigured. Adrien walked up to a portrait and mimicked the pose and facial expression. He put on a serious face and squinted his eyebrows. He kept that face for about ten seconds until he and Marinette erupted into laughter.

Marinette walked over beside another painting and yelled, "My turn!" She replicated the portrait of an angry looking woman. She pretended to pout and crossed her arms. Like before, she could hardly keep the pose before breaking into a fit of hysteria. Adrien and Marinette took turns doing this until their sides hurt so bad they couldn't breathe.

After making fun all the portraits, they walked calmly throughout the rest of the museum, enjoying the art together. To Adrien's surprise, Marinette actually knew a lot about art. She showed him some of the pieces by her favorite artists. She was more well-rounded than she let on. Fashion design wasn't her only passion.

Outside, the sun was beginning to set and Marinette and Adrien had finished walking around the museum. They exited the building and were greeted by the stars. They were brighter than normal.

"I had a lot of fun today, Mari," Adrien told her gratefully. "I've never done something like this before and I don't think I would've had the guts to run away if you hadn't been there."

"Oh, i-it was nothing," Marinette mumbled, suddenly becoming shy again. "I had a lot of fun too. I hope we can do this again."

Adrien wrapped his arms around Marinette and started to hug her, catching her off guard. Her shoulders stiffened, but relaxed quickly as she felt more comfortable in his arms. She could smell his cologne and feel the soft fabric of his shirt. They had almost been this close once before, but Chloe had interrupted. This though... this was real.

"Ah! Sorry!" Adrien said, breaking the hug. "That was weird, wasn't it?" His face was red and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. Marinette smiled and shook her head. "No, it's fine," she replied. "I didn't mind at all."

Adrien sifted through his pockets from his phone. He pulled it out and saw that he had fifty text messages and twenty missed calls, most of which were from Nathalie. There was even a missed call from his father.

" _I'm going to be in so much trouble..."_ Adrien thought. He quickly dialed Nathalie's number and she immediately picked up. Across the line, Nathalie shouted, "Adrien Agreste, where have you been?"

"Sorry, Nathalie," Adrien replied sheepishly. "I kinda ditched you earlier, but right now I'm outside the Louvre."

"I'll be there to pick you up in three minutes."

"Thank you, Nathalie." Adrien hung up the call and put his phone away. "Are you in trouble?" Marinette asked with a worried frown. Adrien shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know how harsh his punishment would be. Besides, getting yelled by his father wasn't anything new. It hardly fazed him anymore.

"I'll be fine, thanks for worrying," Adrien smiled, putting a hand on Marinette's shoulder. He couldn't express to her how much fun he had today thanks to her. It was easily one of the best days of his life aside from all the nights he spent as Chat Noir.

Marinette was a new type of friend entirely. Adrien had Chloe who was more or less a friend, but never showed it. Nino was his best friend, but that was different. They played video games together or talked about girls. That was a different kind of friendship. Marinette's kind was special and Adrien knew that it was something he had to treasure.

Adrien's limo pulled up and he saw Nathalie looking out at him with an irritated glance. He felt a little guilty for leaving Nathalie behind. When he misbehaved, it put her job at stake since she was partially in charge of him. Adrien doubted that his father would ever fire Nathalie though. He relied on her far too much. He regarded her as one of the few competent people that worked for him.

"I guess that's my cue," Adrien waved as he approached the car. Marinette waved back and shouted, "I'll see you at school, promise?'

"Promise."

Adrien got into the car and drove away. Marinette watched the limo leave and then immediately opened her purse. "Tikki!" She screamed. "That was a real date! Like an actual date!"

"This is so exciting!" Tikki smiled, poking her head out of the purse. "You two should just go out already!"

"I wish," Marinette groaned. "But I think he still sees me as a friend."

"Keep working hard, Marinette! You can't give up!"

"Thanks, Tikki. I don't plan on it anytime soon!" Marinette noticed a few odd glances her way since it appeared that she was just talking into her purse. Marinette slowly pushed Tikki back into the bag and snapped it shut. She awkwardly laughed and tried to brush it off. People quickly lost interest and went about their normal business. With that, Marinette began her walk home, overjoyed about the day's progress.


	5. Who's Jealous?

At school, Marinette was rummaging around in her locker, looking for an extra pencil. " _There it is,"_ she sighed as she grabbed her pencil and put in her bag. She closed her locker door and suddenly Alya was standing right there, up in her face.

"Ah!" Marinette cried, jumping backwards. "Don't do that, Alya! You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Girl, I need details. All I got from you last night was a text that said 'on a date with Adrien'. Care to explain?" Alya had her hands on her hips and that curious glint in her eye. When she had received that text last night, she had a minor freak out. Finally, Marinette was taking steps forward and Alya expected that she would be the first to know everything, but all the messages stopped there. Marinette hadn't texted her for the rest of the night and Alya was dying to know what happened.

"Keep your voice down," Marinette whispered, her eyes darting around the room. She didn't want anyone else to hear, especially Chloe. That was a can of worms that Marinette definitely did not want to open. "All we did was go out to eat and spend some time at the Louvre. Nothing major..."

"Nothing major? Mari, you weren't able to say a coherent sentence to this boy less than a month ago. You just started being able to speak to him like a normal human being and now all of a sudden you're going on dates! This is a huge development!"

"He only asked me out as thank you. It wasn't a real date."

"I don't know what your definition of a 'real date' is." Alya used air quotes around "real date" to emphasize her point. "But I would call that one. I'm so proud of you!"

Alya gave Marinette a warm hug and pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "They grow up so fast," she smiled nostalgically. "It seems like just yesterday when I had to physically push the two of you together just so you would talk."

" _Alya's right,"_ Marinette agreed with a smile. " _I used to be a complete mess around Adrien, but it's getting better. After he helped me out with Uncle Cheng and I gave him my lucky charm when he came over, I think I've gotten more used to talking to Adrien. He's like an actual friend now."_

"Oh no!" Marinette shouted, grabbing her ponytails in fear. "What if Adrien only thinks of me as a friend? He said I was his friend yesterday. What if I'm stuck like that forever?"

"I think you need to calm down," Alya grinned as she nudged Marinette with her arm. "I have a feeling things will work out. Call it my journalist intuition."

Alya and Marinette headed to class with Alya trying to comfort Marinette along the way. Marinette had run it through her head that she and Adrien were never meant to be and someone needed to stop her. Alya was used to dealing with Marinette's over exaggerations though. If she could handle all her little sisters, she could definitely handle Marinette.

The girls sat down at their desks and changed the subject to homework instead of Adrien. That lasted for a good two seconds until Adrien entered the room with Nino.

"Good morning, Marinette," Adrien waved as he sat down in his seat. He looked extra handsome today which put Marinette at ease. She was afraid he would be scolded by his father after he ditched his ride over the weekend. Adrien seemed to be just fine though which hopefully implied that things had gone over smoothly.

"Good morning," Marinette awkwardly waved back.

Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe witnessed Adrien and Marinette's small interaction. Her eyebrows furrowed and her face scrunched up in disgust. "Sabrina," Chloe said, her voice full of venom. "Look at her! What an idiot." Chloe purposefully spoke at a louder tone, intending for the whole class to hear.

Marinette glared over at her and Chloe replied with an evil smirk. With a huff, Marinette sat down and looked away. She didn't feel like dealing with Chloe's antics this morning. She had been in a good mood until Chloe had to come and ruin it. Chloe turned her head to smile at Adrien, but was greeted by a disappointed stare. Adrien shook his head at Chloe and mouthed the words, "not cool".

" _Why did she have to do that?"_ Marinette moaned internally. " _Can't Chloe just mind her own business? Now Adrien's gonna think I'm a complete loser."_ She laid her head down on her desk and shut her eyes. Alya rubbed her back and whispered, "It's okay. Ignore her. No one listens to anything she says anyways."

"Um... Marinette?"

Marinette opened her eyes and saw a figure before her. She looked up and saw Nathanael, standing nervously. He had his hands behind his back like he was hiding something. His face was a light pink and he had taken the time to brush his bangs out of his face. For once, Marinette could see his eyes.

"What's up, Nath?" Marinette sat up and tried to pull herself together. Nathanael brought his hands forward, revealing a colored illustration of Marinette. It was extremely detailed even down to the freckles.

"T-This is for you," he stammered, setting down the picture in front of her. "You s-said that you liked it last night, so I wanted to give you one as a t-thank you for defending me. I know it isn't much, but..."

"I love it!" Marinette jumped out of her seat and gave Nathanael a hug. She had never received a present like this before. She knew just the spot where she could hang it in her bedroom. It would look great hanging alongside all her in progress designs. The artwork was impressive too. It was something Marinette gladly pay for.

Nathanael blushed as Marinette wrapped her arms around him. He wasn't prepared for this and thought he might pass out. He was incredibly happy though. He didn't think Marinette would like his present this much. If anything, he expected her to throw it away.

Adrien was chatting with Nino when he heard Marinette exclaim, "I love it!" He turned around and watched the blue-haired girl hug Nathanael with a huge smile on her face. Adrien watched Nathanael turn as red as his hair as he returned the hug.

A sudden anger filled Adrien though he didn't know why. His fists clenched and he let out a quiet hiss. "Stupid tomato," Adrien muttered under his breath. Nino, who heard Adrien's comment, raised an eyebrow. Adrien was acting strange. Nino had never seen Adrien truly get upset especially not over something as silly as a hug. Why would he be mad unless he was...

"Are you jealous, bro?" Nino grinned. Adrien quickly turned his head and shouted a defensive, "No!" He crossed his arms and said, "Why would I be jealous?"

Nino shrugged his shoulders. "You tell me," he replied with a smug grin. Alya had texted him that Marinette and Adrien had gone on a date over the weekend. He was quite aware that Adrien might be harboring some "feelings" for Marinette. If they were friendship or love, Nino didn't know, but clearly Adrien was upset that someone other than him was feeling the same.

Once the day's classes ended, everyone was packing up to leave. Marinette took out the picture Nathanael drew her and admired it. " _That's really sweet of him,"_ Marinette smiled as she ran her finger her along the outline of the sketch. " _I wish I had this kind of a talent. I'm kinda jealous."_

"What's that?" A sudden voice behind her asked. Marinette jumped and turned around to see Adrien, smiling. He pointed at Nathanael's picture and then proceeded to take it. "This is pretty good. Did Nath draw it for you?"

"Y-yes," Marinette blushed. She was flattered by Nathanael's kindness. Adrien saw the blush on Marinette's cheeks and his stomach did a flip. "He did it as a thank-you gift," she explained. "I really appreciate when people do stuff like this."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah... like when you took me out to lunch."

Now it was Adrien's turn to blush. "Like I said b-before," Adrien stuttered. He cursed himself for sounding so awkward. "It was nothing."

"It's still very important to me," Marinette smiled. She felt a sudden buzz in her bag. Adrien watched her take out her phone and read whatever was on the screen. Her face morphed into a worried frown and Adrien asked, "Is something wrong?"

"An elevator got stuck downtown and there are at least five people trapped," she replied, stuffing her phone into her bag. She grabbed all her other belongings and began to head toward the door. "I hope they make it out safely," Adrien said, confused as to why Marinette suddenly seemed to be in a hurry.

"Don't worry," Marinette winked. "I think they'll be okay." With that, she ran out the door.

Adrien wandered outside to wait for his limo where he was met by Nino. "Did you have a nice chat with Marinette?" Nino asked, practically begging for more details. "I left so you two could have some alone time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adrien said. "It means I'm asking if you like her, dude," Nino sighed. "Work with me here. I'm trying to be your wingman, but you're not really cooperating."

"I don't like her that way!" Exclaimed Adrien in shock. "Why do you guys keep saying that? It's completely normal to be friends with a girl. I'm friends with Chloe."

"But you don't get jealous over Chloe."

"I wasn't jealous!"

"Bro, don't lie to yourself. Accept it. Besides, Marinette is about as good as it gets. She's sweet, talented, kind, and pretty damn cute. I don't see what's wrong."

" _What's wrong?"_ Adrien thought. " _What's wrong is that I love Ladybug, but I can't tell Nino that. I should just bear it for now. This whole thing will blow over soon."_

"Whatever you say, Nino..." Adrien trailed off. He saw his limo come around the corner and waved. "See you tomorrow!"

"Wait, don't leave me hanging!" Nino exclaimed as Adrien ran away. Nino crossed his arms with an irritated groan as Adrien drove away. " _Alya's gonna kill me,"_ Nino thought as he headed back into the school. " _I promised her I figure out if Adrien liked Marinette or not. There goes that date on Friday..."_ With a sad sigh, Nino looked up to see Alya waiting in the courtyard for him. He would have to accept his fate.

Meanwhile, Adrien was riding home when he got a text from Marinette. He opened the message to find a news link followed by a ;) face. Adrien opened the link and read the title, " _Ladybug Saves Family Trapped in Elevator"._

There was a picture of Ladybug standing beside a family. The article detailed that the elevator had gotten stuck and there was no one available to come and fix it. Luckily, Ladybug swooped in and climbed through the elevator shaft. She was able to open the emergency door at the top and got each family member out one by one.

Adrien smiled as he read the article. Ladybug's only job wasn't to stop evil akuma. She was a hero through and through. She helped old ladies cross the street or fed stray cats on the side of the road. His lady was truly special.

" _My lady..."_ Adrien sighed. " _I wonder what she's doing now. I haven't seen her in a few days. This cat's getting lonely without its master..."_ His heart longed to see her. Being apart from the girl he loved even for a few days hurt. Normally, he felt lonely whenever he wasn't by her side, but his loneliness hadn't been that bad this week. Ever since he started spending time with Marinette, the pain of missing Ladybug was eased.

Glancing back down at Marinette's message, Adrien wondered how Marinette seemed to know that Ladybug would swoop in and save the day. " _She was awfully confident about it too,"_ Adrien wondered. " _Eh, it's probably nothing. If anyone would come save the day, it would be my lady after all."_

After rescuing that family from the elevator, Ladybug was swarmed with reporters. Microphones were shoved in her face as reporters asked her dozens of questions. That was one of the things she didn't like about being Ladybug. She didn't want to be treated like a celebrity. She just wanted to help people and protect Paris.

She was able to shoo away the reporters by pretending that her earrings were beeping. Using her yo-yo, she flew away to safety and hid in a dark alley. Quickly, she released her transformation and Tikki came flying out of her earrings, landing in Marinette's hands.

"Good work, Marinette!" Tikki cheered. "That family would've been in big trouble if you hadn't come by."

"Thanks," Marinette smiled, petting the little creature. She reached for her phone and saw that one of the reporters had already posted an article about her. " _I should send this to Adrien,"_ she thought. Marinette put Tikki bag in her purse and then sent a link to the article along with an appropriate emoji to Adrien.

After sending the message, Marinette stuck her head out of the alley to make sure that everything was all clear. No one seemed to be paying attention, so Marinette casually left the alley and blended in with the crowd. She began her walk home and found herself wondering where Chat Noir had been.

" _He doesn't always come out for non-akuma attacks since his civilian life seems to be pretty busy,"_ Marinette thought, puzzled. " _I haven't seem that tomcat in a while though. I wonder what he's been up to. Probably mischief, knowing him."_


	6. Fencing Practice

"I was really intrigued by that whole Egypt exhibit at the museum, so I did some more research and just yesterday, I found the coolest thing!" Alya said to Marinette. Class was just ending and Alya had been dying to tell Marinette about what she discovered the entire day. She was so excited, Marinette thought she might burst.

"So apparently like twenty years ago Paris had a different superhero, like a peacock or something!"

"Yeah?" Marinette said, half-listening. She was too focused on staring at Adrien who was currently talking with Nino. "Yep," Alya continued proudly. "She didn't fight akuma like Ladybug and Chat Noir, but she kinda just went around and helped people, but the weird thing is, there isn't that much about her. You'd think she'd be big news, but she wasn't and all of a sudden, she just disappeared!"

"Weird..."

"I know. I'm gonna try to dig up some more info. Who knows? Maybe this will lead me to some info about the true identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"I didn't know you wanted to know Chat Noir's true identity too?" Marinette said, snapping back to the conversation. Alya nodded her head. "Of course I want to know!" Alya exclaimed. "He's one half of Paris's superduo and shouldn't be taken lightly! Plus, I don't think anyone would mind knowing who the handsome young man underneath that mask is."

Marinette snorted and said, "You act like he's a gorgeous model or something, but he's really just a silly kitty with a knack for making bad puns."

"He could be one," Alya pointed out. Marinette rolled her eyes. " _Chat Noir a model?"_ She thought with a smile. " _Yeah right..."_

"I have fencing practice in a few minutes, so I should get going," Marinette and Alya heard Adrien say. Alya's ears perked up and she grabbed Marinette's shoulders. "Girl, I just thought of something! What if Chat Noir fences?"

"Fences?" Marinette frowned. "That's awfully specific, don't you think? Besides, what gives you that idea?"

"Think about it. He waves that baton around like it's a sword or something." Alya mimicked the motion to prove her point. "Only someone with fencing experience could do that."

"I think you're drawing connections where they don't exist."

"Well, we won't know unless we do a little scouting. Adrien happens to have fencing practice. Maybe you could go watch and scope things out for me?" Alya gave Marinette a puppy-dog look. Marinette sighed and immediately gave in.

"I guess I'll agree to this crazy plan because I get something out of it," Marinette replied knowingly.

"Great!" Alya exclaimed. "Just ask Adrien if you can watch. If he asks you why, tell him you're helping me do some research for the Ladyblog." Marinette's eyes narrowed as Alya continued giving her instructions. Alya seemed awfully prepared like the whole thing had been planned.

" _I think I've been duped."_ Marinette hung her head in shame after falling neatly into her friend's trap. She couldn't be mad though. If she got to spend more time with Adrien, did it matter?

Slowly, Marinette walked to Adrien and tapped him on the shoulder. "Marinette?" Adrien said, turning around to face her. "Do you need something?"

"Um, yeah," Marinette smiled, trying to pretend that she wasn't taking advantage of Adrien's kindness. "Would you mind if I sit in and watch your fencing practice? Alya want me to do some...err... research for the Ladyblog."

"Sure thing," Adrien grinned. "We practice right downstairs. I'll see you in a bit then. I gotta go change." Adrien ran off the locker room and Marinette was quite pleased with herself. " _I get to watch Adrien fence!"_ She thought dreamily. " _I've never seen him do it before! I bet he's amazing at it."_

Marinette quickly told Alya good-bye and then floated down the stairs to the commons. The other fencers were already getting prepared for practice. There weren't very many, but enough to make up a solid team. She spied the fencing coach yelling at a kid in the corner for not having the correct stance. Marinette didn't remember his name, but recalled him being extremely stuffy. As an akuma, he had been a difficult one to beat.

A tall boy dressed in a white fencing outfit and mask came out of the locker room. He was holding what Marinette believed was called a foil in his hands. As a side note, Marinette knew virtually nothing about fencing. She thought it looked cool, but her interests never delved deeper than that. Marinette assumed that the boy she saw was Adrien.

Adrien walked out into the arena and his coach stopped yelling at the poor boy in corner to meet him. His coach stood proudly in front of Adrien and bellowed, "Monsieur Agreste, are you ready to begin?" Adrien nodded and said, "I'm always ready." No one else could see his face because of the mask, but he had a cheeky, cat-like grin.

The coach put his own mask on and prepared to fight. Another fencer began the battle and Adrien and his opponent were off. Marinette watched Adrien lunge forward, desperately trying to get a hit on his adversary. His coach, who Marinette overheard one of the boys call Mr. D'Argencourt, dodged the hit and lunged at Adrien. Quickly, Adrien shuffled backwards to avoid the foil. The back and forth battle raged on with Marinette watching closely. The atmosphere was intense and she was afraid Adrien would lose. After all, if Mr. D'Argencourt was a fencing teacher, he must be very good.

As Adrien took jabs at Mr. D'Argencourt, Marinette noticed he had a very distinct form of fighting. He was quick on his feet, never staying in one spot for more than a second or two. He wasn't afraid to fake-out his opponent and acted almost in a cocky manner. His style of fighting seemed very un-Adrien like. Instead, it reminded Marinette of somebody else.

Adrien's movements were beginning to slow and Marinette could tell he was getting tired. She didn't know fencing matches went this long. Anyone would be tired after dodging that many hits. She bit her lip and thought, " _C'mon Adrien! You can do it! I believe in you!"_

Before she could stop herself, Marinette cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "You can do it, Adrien!"

Her voice reached him, despite being in the middle of a battle. " _Don't worry,"_ Adrien smirked under his mask. " _This cat's got it in the bag!"_ With spending so much time as Chat Noir, Adrien's fencing skills had become unrivalled. He couldn't practice with normal students anymore because he was so good, but Mr. D'Argencourt was still a tough opponent. This time, though, he would win.

A rush of adrenaline surged through Adrien's body after hearing Marinette's cheers. He dodged another swing from Mr. D'Argencourt and then quickly recovered. In that moment, it was as if time slowed down. Adrien surveyed his opponent carefully like he was an akuma, prepared to attack. He narrowed down on Mr. D'Argencourt's weakest point and lunged forward.

"Point to Adrien!" The student refereeing the match called out. "Adrien wins!"

"Woo-hoo!" Marinette shouted, standing up. Adrien removed his mask and gave his teacher a handshake. "Good match," Mr. D'Argencourt told the blonde-haired boy. "I'm very impressed. You have become quite good. Tell me, how is that your skills have improved so quickly?"

"A lot of practice, I guess," Adrien replied humbly. "And I learn from the best teacher in Paris." Mr. D'Argencourt nodded with a smile and then walked away to deal with another student.

Marinette ran over to Adrien and exclaimed, "That was cool! You were amazing!"

"Thanks," Adrien blushed.

"And thank you for letting me come watch," Marinette said gratefully. "I'm helping out Alya, but I always thought fencing was kinda cool. I've always wanted to try it out."

"Well, how about you try right now?" Smiled Adrien as he handed her his foil. Her eyes widened as she held the weapon in her hands. With a nervous gulp, she said, "M-me? Really? I don't think so. I'm way too clumsy."

"You'll be fine. I'll help you. To start, hold it like this." Adrien moved Marinette's fingers to grasp the foil in the correct manner. She held back her gasps as Adrien touched her, but she couldn't contain her bright, red blush.

"That's it," Adrien coaxed. His hand slowly ran along the side of her arm, moving it into place. He moved behind her so that his chest was touching her back. Marinette's hands became sweaty and she prayed that she wouldn't drop the foil.

"Now, thrust it forward," Adrien instructed. "Use all your power." Marinette nodded and gathered her strength. With a mighty "hyah", she thrust the foil outward and found it to be more uncomfortable than she assumed. She couldn't stick her arm straight out with almost losing her balance. Luckily, Adrien was there to keep her steady.

Marinette looked up at Adrien and smiled. "You did it!" He congratulated. He looked down at Marinette and noticed how close her face was. It was astonishingly beautiful. He had never taken the time to look at it closely before. She had dozens of little freckles that dotted her nose. And her eyes... words couldn't even describe them.

That's when Adrien realized how close he was to her and how intimate their position looked. Marinette realized the same and the two quickly parted. Neither of them said anything and there was an awkward pose. Finally, Marinette broke the silence and said, "That's harder than it looks. I don't think it's my kind of weapon."

"What kind of weapon does the princess use to defend herself then?" Adrien asked. Marinette thought to herself for a moment and then smartly replied, "A yo-yo."

"That's strange," Adrien smirked. "I don't think the phrase is that the yo-yo is more powerful than the sword." Marinette giggled at Adrien's joke. He had an unexpected funny side when he wanted to, kind of like Chat Noir, but less flirty.

"You know, you remind me of someone I know," Marinette added. Adrien raised an eyebrow and asked who. "Chat Noir," she replied honestly. "You two have a similar fighting style."

"You think so?" Adrien chuckled. "I never noticed the resemblance before."

Marinette shrugged and then looked at her phone. "It's getting late," she said. "I should head home. There's a couple chores that need to be done around the bakery still. Thank you for letting me come watch."

"Anytime. You're always welcome. Did you get all the information you needed for Alya?'

"Huh? Oh yeah, I think I got everything I need." Marinette waved and then exited the school building. Adrien was exhausted and decided it was time to call it quits. He headed into the locker room to change back into his normal clothes. Adrien opened his locker door to reveal Plagg snacking on some cheese.

"It's about time you came back!" Plagg moaned. "By the way, I heard your girlfriend was coming to watch."

Adrien slammed the locker door shut.

After getting Plagg to shut up, Adrien was able to change and grabbed his phone from his bag. There was alert on it from the Ladyblog. Alya must have posted a new article. " _Ladybug,"_ Adrien sighed. " _I want to see her. I'll call her up tonight and we can go patrol."_

Later that evening while Marinette was working on homework, she was interrupted by Tikki. "Marinette, Chat Noir is calling," Tikki said, flying over. Marinette smiled and said, "Well, then. Spots on!" She transformed into Ladybug and then walked out onto the balcony. She pulled her yo-yo off her belt and slid the top open.

"Hello?"

Chat Noir's face appeared on the other end. "Good evening, m'lady," he said cooly. "Care to take a stroll with me this evening?"

"Lucky for you I have some free time," Ladybug smirked. She had secretly been wishing to have an excuse to abandon her homework and play around outside for a while. "Where should I meet you?"

"The Eiffel Tower."

"So stereotypical, but sweet. Be there in a minute."

"See you then, bugaboo." Chat Noir hung up the call before Ladybug could scold him for using that ridiculous nickname. Sighing, she threw her yo-yo around a nearby chimney and headed off.

Within five minutes, she made it to her destination. At the top of the tower she spied a familiar black figure. She hoisted herself up and jumped onto the platform. She was greeted by Chat Noir who bowed and said, "It's good to see you again."

"You too, kitty," Ladybug remarked, taking a seat on the ground. "But you seemed very desperate to see me. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all, my lady," Chat Noir grinned as he sat down beside her. "I just wanted to see your face." Chat Noir seemed to be extra jolly this evening. There was a spring in his step that was rare to see.

"You're in an awfully good moon. Care to explain?"

"It's nothing. I just got to spend some time with a good friend today."

"You have friends?" Ladybug joked. "I'm hurt, kitty. I thought I was your only friend."

Chat Noir pouted and said, "I have plenty of friends, but only a few as good as you."

"How does your friend measure up to me?"Ladybug was curious about Chat Noir's civilian life though she didn't want to know his identity. She wanted to check up on him and make sure everything was okay. Sometimes it seemed like he had a rough life and was an outcast. Hearing he had good friends warmed her heart.

"She's pretty close," Chat Noir laughed. Ladybug rose and eyebrow. "It's a 'she'?" She inquired. "A girlfriend maybe?"

"No!" Chat Noir yelled, shaking his head. "She's really just a friend. I care about her a lot, but I don't think about her like that. Trust me! The only one I love is you." To prove his point, Chat Noir grabbed Ladybug's hand and gave it a kiss. She blushed and pulled her hand away.

"That's very sweet of you," she smiled. "Be careful though. Your extreme flirting might give the girl mixed signals. Try to be a good kitty okay?"

Chat Noir promised. " _It's not a problem though,"_ he thought. " _Marinette and I have just become really good friends. She knows that and so do I. I don't think she would like me that way anyways. My heart belongs solely to Ladybug."_

But if his love was so strong and his heart so unwavering, then why, Chat Noir wondered, did he feel uneasy?


	7. You're Amazing

Marinette held a clipping from one of her favorite fashion magazines in her hands. It was an advertisement for a contest the magazine was holding . Readers were being asked to submit original designs and one would be hand-picked by a panel of judges. The winning design would be featured on the front page of the magazine.

Marinette cut the ad out and kept reading it over and over. She had a certain design that she had been working on for ages. It was one of her proudest works, but she wasn't sure she could submit it. " _It's probably not very good,"_ Marinette thought. " _There are plenty of other designers out there than can make something better than this. Maybe I shouldn't enter the contest..."_

Tikki watched Marinette's expression drop as she kept glancing between her design and the magazine clipping. Immediately, Tikki knew what that face meant. She had seen in dozens of times. It was the face Marinette had whenever she got down on herself. Marinette was the type to tear herself down and not recognize how amazing she was. Her own fear easily got the best of her and kept her from accomplishing great things. Being Ladybug had helped chip away at her lack of self-confidence, but Marinette still had her relapses.

"Marinette, don't be nervous," Tikki smiled as she rolled over to Marinette's design. "Your design is amazing! You've worked really hard on it. You should submit it!"

"I don't know..." Marinette trailed off. "It probably can't even come close to measuring up against a real designer."

"You'll never know if you don't try."

"I guess you're right. I'll talk to Alya about it tomorrow, but I might not be good enough yet. There's no shame in admitting that."

"There's a difference between admitting your flaws and selling yourself short."

"..." Marinette didn't say anything. Instead, she set down the clipping and turned out her desk lamp. "We should get to bed," Marinette yawned. "We spent a long night out with Chat Noir and that silly cat is exhausting. I'm surprised we were able to make it this late."

Tikki watched Marinette walk over to her bed and snuggle underneath the blankets. Within a few minutes, Marinette was fast asleep. Once Marinette was sleeping, Tikki flew over to her desk and read the magazine ad. " _I want Marinette to participate so badly!"_ Tikki thought. " _She seemed so excited when that magazine came this afternoon, but now she's whipped herself into a frenzy. What should I do?"_

Tikki glanced up at the dozens of pictures littering Marinette's walls and a small smile emerged on her face. " _If anyone can convince her, it'll definitely be him."_

As quiet as a thief in the night, Tikki grabbed the clipping and flew over to Marinette's purse. She opened the bag and placed the article inside. She had a plan to let Adrien know about the competition. If he asked Marinette to compete, there was no way she could refuse. Tikki snapped the handbag shut and then headed off to bed, very pleased with herself.

The next morning, Marinette walked into class with an unusually quiet demeanor. She whispered simple "hellos" to her classmates, but not much else. Alya noticed her strange attitude immediately and pounced on Marinette as soon as she sat down.

"What's bugging you?" Alya asked. Marinette internally laughed at Alya's unintentional joke. "It's nothing," Marinette sighed. "There's just this design contest I want to enter, but I don't think I'm good enough. It's kinda been stressing me out since last night."

"Not good enough?" Alya recoiled in confusion. "You're as good as it gets, Marinette! I've never seen anyone as talented as you. Some of your designs could even rival Gabriel Agreste and he's world famous!"

"You're just saying that because you're my best friend, but I appreciate it. Thanks for cheering me on."

Alya frowned. She could tell that Marinette wasn't convinced. Alya also recognized that there was a problem with Marinette's self-confidence. Marinette thought she was plain and boring like she was a disappointment sometimes, but no one ever saw her that way. People loved her and always praised everything she did. Alya didn't know where Marinette's self-esteem issues came from, but she didn't want her best friend to be held back by fears that weren't even real.

"Hey, Marinette!" Adrien smiled as he walked up to her desk. It had become habit to talk to Marinette in the mornings. He noticed that she had a strange expression like something was bothering her. " _Should I ask?"_ He wondered. " _Or is that overstepping my boundaries?"_

Tikki heard the sound of Adrien's voice and sprung into action. Carefully, she opened up the bag and pushed the magazine clipping out. Tikki watched it slowly float onto the ground. She slipped back into the purse with a sly smile.

"What's this?" Adrien said, bending down to pick up the clipping. He read the ad and realized it was a design contest for a popular fashion magazine. It was one that had done multiple articles on his father and showcased many of his designs. "Marinette, are you planning on participating in this?" Adrien asked as he pointed to the clipping.

Marinette quickly grabbed the clipping from his hands and said, "I don't think so. It's a pretty big contest and I don't think I'm cut out for it."

"That's not true!" Adrien exclaimed. "Your designs are awesome! The reason why my design is even semi-okay is because you helped me fix it. You have a lot of talent. Go for it!"

Marinette's heart jumped as Adrien continued to praise her. She didn't know he thought so highly of her. He seemed to be more interested in her participating in the contest than she was. She didn't want to let him down and be a disappointment, so she said, "Ok, I'll submit something."

Adrien smiled and gave Marinette a high five. "That's my girl!" He grinned, pleased that he was able to make her change her mind. With that, he sat down besides Nino, very proud of himself. Alya looked back at Marinette who had put the clipping away. The blue-haired girl still had an uneasy expression. It wasn't about the design contest this time though. Alya knew it was because Marinette had lied to Adrien and was feeling guilty.

Later that afternoon, classes were getting out and Marinette rushed home to do some work at the bakery. Before Adrien was about to leave, Alya pulled him aside.

"Adrien, can I talk to you for a sec?" Alya asked. Adrien nodded and told Nino he would text him later. Then, he went over to Alya and said, "What's up?"

"I really wanted to thank-you for trying to help out Marinette this morning. I needed to wait 'till she left to thank-you otherwise she'd have a minor freakout."

"It's no big deal," Adrien smiled. "I'm just glad she's participating."

"Here's the thing though... she isn't."

"What do you mean? She said she was, didn't she?"

Alya bit her lip and wondered if it was okay to tell Adrien the truth. She crossed her arms and with a sigh replied, "She just told you that so you wouldn't be disappointed. I can tell she's still second-guessing herself and unless some escorts her to the mailbox to submit her design, she won't have the confidence to do it. It's exactly like the time she tried to mail your valent-..." Alya shut her mouth, realizing that detail was better kept a secret.

"I see..." Adrien said sadly. He didn't like the idea of Marinette doubting herself. It reminded him of himself. He always felt like he was a disappointment and could never live up to expectations as Adrien or Chat Noir. As Adrien, he was nothing more than a puppet to his father and as Chat Noir, he could never be as fantastic as Ladybug. He never realized that others were facing the same problems as him. It gave him some serious perspective.

However, if there was one person that could understand and help Marinette, it was him.

"I think she'll submit her design," Adrien cheekily grinned. "I have a plan." Alya gave Adrien a questioning glare. The boy looked giddy and had an expression that was strange for him. It was almost cat-like.

"I'll leave it to you then," Alya sighed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Don't let me down." She left the classroom, leaving Adrien to himself.

" _Don't worry,"_ Adrien thought. " _I know just the cat to help!"_

Evening rolled around and Marinette was still stressing out about the design contest. She didn't want to submit her design, but she didn't want to be a liar either. "Tikki, I've dug myself into a hole again," Marinette moaned. "How do I get myself into these situations?"

"If you just mail in your design, there isn't a problem," Tikki replied smartly. She wished Alya was here to force Marinette to go out to the mailbox. Words didn't seem to be convincing enough. Someone needed to take action.

There was a sudden knock at the window, startling both Marinette and Tikki. Tikki quickly flew away and hid from sight. Cautiously, Marinette stood up and walked over to her window. It was dark and hard to see. It looked like nothing was there until a pair of big, green eyes opened in front of her.

Marinette jumped back with a scream. Looking closer at what was outside, she realized that it wasn't a monster, but Chat Noir. " _Chat Noir?"_ Marinette wondered. " _Why would he be here? Is something happening? Is it an akuma?"_

She quickly opened the window and beckoned for the cat to come in. "Why are you here?" Marinette exclaimed. "Is there a problem? Where's Ladybug?"

"Relax, Princess," Chat Noir purred. "There's nothing wrong. I've come to see you."

"Me? But we don't really know each other. I've only helped you once and we've only met a few times outside of that."

"And I've come to return the favor. I heard you were having a little bit of trouble..." Chat Noir's eyes wandered over to Marinette's desk where she had left her design sitting out. With the speed of a cat, he rushed over and grabbed the design. "Hey!" Marinette exclaimed as she watched him put his paws all over her stuff. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Did you make this?" Chat Noir said in shock. "It's amazing! You're really talented." Marinette blushed at the compliment, but swiped the design back.

"Thanks, but it's nothing special."

"Are you going to send it in to that magazine design contest?"

Marinette gave him a confused look. " _How does he know about that?"_ Marinette thought. " _What are the chances we read the same magazine?"_

She cleared her throat and said, "I was considering it, but I don't think I will. I might practice some more first."

"C'mon, Marinette. It would be a waste to not submit it. You have a shot at winning," Chat Noir eagerly added. His praise was unrelentless. He could only say good things about her work. As he was gushing over her design, Marinette was examining him, still wondering why he was here. The whole thing was very odd...

"You should take a chance and send it," Chat Noir said. He spied an empty envelope and the form for the contest on Marinette's desk. He grabbed a pencil and quickly filled the form out. Marinette watched from over his shoulder, unsure of what he was doing.

Once Chat Noir finished the form, he folded it and the design and placed them into the envelope. He licked it shut and then wrote all the information on the envelope. He handed it to Marinette and said, "See? I've done all the hard work for you. Now all you have to do is put it in the mailbox."

"Chat, I don't think this is a good ide-"

"No buts! I'll even escort you out and help you put it in. He hoisted himself up onto the balcony and offered his hand. "Are you coming, Princess?"

With a reluctant sigh, Marinette took his hand and he pulled her up. He put his arm around his waist and used his other hand to grab his baton. He extended it and then hopped down onto the ground, keeping Marinette safe the whole time.

"We could have just used the stairs," Marinette explained with an eye roll. Chat Noir winked and said, "But where's the fun in that?"

The two walked over to the yellow mailbox that rested outside the park. All Marinette had to do was stick the envelop in. Marinette stood in front of the box and held the envelope out. Her hands were shaking. " _I can't do this,"_ she kept repeating to herself. " _This is a mistake!"_

Noticing her hesitation, Chat Noir grabbed her arm and pushed Marinette forward. The envelope entered the mailbox and Marinette accidentally let go. The envelope fluttered down into the insides of the mailbox, never to be rescued again.

"C-chat!" Marinette exclaimed nervously. "Why did you do that?"

"If you aren't going to help yourself, I will," he said seriously. "Marinette, I understand exactly where you're coming from. It's hard to believe in yourself when it seems that everything you do isn't good enough, but you have to take chances. You have to learn to believe in yourself!"

Chat Noir's words were surprisingly serious and from the heart. Marinette never expected him to have such deep thoughts. It was hard to believe that Chat Noir had a self-confidence complex off his own. After all, he was Chat Noir, the flirty guy who always charged head first into danger. Marinette knew it took a lot of guts for him to share that information with her and she respected that. His words seemed to break down the wall inside her.

"You're right," Marinette softly smiled. "I should stop doubting myself. Thank you, Chat. Your words were really helpful and if you're ever having a tough time, you can always talk to me. If Ladybug isn't available, I mean..."

"I appreciate the kindness, Princess," Chat Noir bowed. Seeing smile warmed his heart in a strange way. He felt the sudden urge to hug her, but restrained himself. Now wasn't the place or time. "I should be heading out now. I still have to finish up my nightly patrol."

"Why did you come visit me?" Marinette asked before he had the chance to leave. "And how did you know about the contest?"

"You made quite an impression the first time we met," Chat Noir smiled. "How could I forgot the brave and clever civilian who helped me take down a dangerous akuma? And besides, this cat gets around. He knows everything." With a flirty wink, Chat Noir extended his baton and jumped off into the distance.

" _He has a thing for dramatic entrances and exits, doesn't he?"_ Marinette sighed. She looked back at the mailbox that contained her design. The sides of her mouth upturned slightly. " _Thanks, kitty. Who knew that the one who needed you most wasn't Ladybug, but Marinette?"_


	8. Marinette, the Hero

"Chat Noir really came to visit you?" Alya asked as she closed her locker. Marinette was leaning on the locker beside her, nodding her head. "It was the weirdest thing," Marinette explained. "All of a sudden, he just kinda showed up and asked me about the design contest. He practically forced me to put it in the mailbox."

"So you did send it in?" Alya squealed. Her hands flailed through the air wildly from excitement. "I knew you could do it! Though I didn't think it would take a superhero to do it. I wonder why he came specifically to see you. Is there some kind of secret you aren't telling me?"

"I don't think so," Marinette lied. "Trust me, if I had a relationship with Chat Noir, you'd be the first to know." That lie was so thick, Marinette had to bite her tongue. She was telling Alya a bold-faced lie, but at the same time wasn't. Chat Noir had a relationship with Ladybug and that wasn't who he came to visit last night.

Alya sighed in agreement. "If he comes by again, let me know ASAP," Alya pleaded. "I've gotten a few exclusive interviews with Ladybug, but never Chat Noir. I wonder what secrets he has hidden up his sleeve."

"Who knows? Hey, do you want to stop by the bakery with me? My papa is testing out a new recipe and needs some taste testers."

"Wish I could... like really wish I could, but can't today," Alya frowned, her stomach giving a hungry rumble. "I promised Nino that we would work on a video for the LadyBlog today. He's helping me direct and edit it since it's turning out to be a bigger chore than I expected. Could you save me one of your dad's special treats though?"

"Sure thing. I'll bring it for you tomorrow."

"I knew having you for a best friend was a good decision. I get to try all the best treats in Paris," Alya giggled. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. "I gotta go, girl. Nino's waiting. I'll text you later." Alya went off to go find Nino and Marinette headed outside.

" _I guess I'll be walking home alone today,"_ she thought sadly.

Adrien was grabbing everything he needed for his photoshoot when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw a text from Nathalie. " _The photo shoot is cancelled?"_ Adrien thought as he read the message. Apparently, the photographer had gotten sick and the shoot had to be rescheduled. Nathalie told Adrien to take the afternoon off which was her way of saying he should go have some fun.

Nathalie had an unexpected kind side to her. Her face was always serious and stern, but she had a good heart. Adrien recalled that she was the reason he was allowed to go to school like a normal kid. She fought to protect him even if it sometimes meant risking her job. Nathalie was the closest thing Adrien had to a mother figure now though she could hardly be called a mother. Still, Adrien was deeply grateful for all she had done for him.

" _I can walk home today. Finally!"_ Adrien smiled to himself. He usually had to ride in that stuffy limo, but if there was no photo shoot, there was no ride. He secretly wanted to walk home like all the other kids. He had never tried it before. His house was only a few blocks away, but Adrien would still enjoy himself.

He was about to text Nino to see if he wanted to come when he remembered that Nino was staying after school to work on something with Alya. " _I'll be alone, but it won't be so bad. I do have Plagg, but if I wake him up from his nap, he'll be super annoying."_ Adrien hummed a little song as he walked outside and was greeted by sunshine. It was a perfect day for walking home.

As he was about to leave, Adrien spotted a small pig-tailed girl hovering around the stairs. Adrien broke into a smile and walked over to her. Maybe he wouldn't have to walk home alone.

"Hey, are you alone?" Adrien asked, sneaking up on Marinette from behind. She swerved around and stuck her arms out, her hands balled in fists. With a question like that, Marinette thought she was about to be attacked, but all she found when she turned around was Adrien. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Don't sneak up on me like that. You're like a sneaky cat. Do you need something?"

"Are you about to walk home?" Adrien inquired innocently. Marinette warily nodded, wondering where the conversation was going. "Good!" Adrien smiled. He linked his arm around Marinette's and pulled her close to his side. "I'll be your escort this afternoon then!"

"Y-you don't have to do that," Marinette stammered. " _He's so close..."_ She thought as she looked down at their interlocked arms. " _Why is he doing this?"_

"I'm sure you have someplace else to be and doesn't someone come to pick you up usually?" Marinette asked, her arms now shaking. "I have the day off," Adrien told her. "I get to finally walk home for once and I'd like to do it with you."

" _That sounded so suggestive, but oh my god, he wants to walk home with me!"_ Marinette's thoughts were racing at a mile per minute. She didn't know what to say, but was able to stammer out a meager "okay", receiving an elated smile from Adrien. If he smiled one more time at her, she was going to pass out.

"We probably shouldn't walk like this though," Marinette said, unhooking her arm from his. "It will give people the wrong idea." She didn't want people to think she was clinging onto Adrien or for people's uncomfortable stares to bother Adrien. She would be content with walking beside him for now. That was more progress than she had made in months.

"That's fine," Adrien agreed. He put his arms at his side, but felt a little disappointed. " _Why am I upset?"_ Adrien wondered. " _It's not like she's my girlfriend or anything. Plus, it was clearly making her uncomfortable. I should've backed off from the beginning. I don't want her to think I'm being clingy or weird."_

The two set off on their walking, heading in the direction of Marinette's house. It wasn't very far and would only take them a few minutes to get there. Marinette had to savor every second of this moment as it was going to end too soon. As they walked, she noticed how the sun seemed to reflect off Adrien's hair, making it even blonder.

" _He looks like some kind of sun-child,"_ Marinette giggled to herself. " _It's oddly adorable and attractive at the same. Damn you, Adrien Agreste, for being so beautiful."_

"Is something funny?" Adrien asked as he noticed Marinette's strange laughs. She shook her head and looked straight forward. Adrien gave her a curious look, but brushed it off. Then he remembered something he overheard earlier and said, "So I heard Chat Noir stopped by your house last night?"

"You heard about that too, huh?" Marinette groaned. "I knew I shouldn't have told Alya. The whole school probably knows by now. In fact, she probably posted it on her Ladyblog. I wouldn't be surprised if all of Paris knows."

"Actually, I overheard you telling her," Adrien laughed. "But I would check her blog just in case. Anyways, what did you think?"

"Think about what?"

"About Chat Noir? Is he super cool? Is he funny? I heard he's funny and handsome. Definitely handsome..."

"I think you misheard," Marinette smiled. "He is cute, but his jokes are terrible. If I hear another cat pun in my lifetime, it'll be too soon."

"You seem to know more than I thought about him."

Marinette shrugged and replied, "I do my research. It also helps to have a best friend that knows everything and anything about him. I think there's even an ongoing list on the Ladyblog about his puns. The people that look that stuff up must be pretty weird."

Marinette paused in the conversation and looked over her shoulder. The school was becoming smaller and small and so was Adrien's mansion in the background.

_Adrien's mansion._

_It was in the opposite direction._

"Um, isn't your house that way?" Marinette asked, pointing in the opposite direction. Adrien looked back and said, "Huh? I guess it is."

"I'm really sorry!" Marinette apologized after realizing what she had done. "You didn't have to walk me all this way! I didn't realize you lived the other way."

"It's fine," Adrien said cooly. "I wanted to walk you home. I don't mind walking a little bit further."

" _He wanted to walk me home... I can die happy right now."_

Marinette gripped her purse nervously and said, "Ah... okay then. Thanks a lot then. It always seems like you're looking out for me, but I can never do much to help you."

"That's not true. You always listen to me and you really helped me with my design. You do a lot for me too, so that makes us even." Adrien had a smug grin like he had won an argument. His eyes were glimmering a proud green and Marinette decided not to push the issue any further. " _I'll let him have this,"_ she thought.

_Meow._

"Was that a cat?" Adrien said, looking around. He didn't see any animal running around the ground. Maybe he was hearing things or Plagg was playing a cruel prank on him. That wouldn't be unusual. Plagg had a knack for teasing and playing tricks. If he wasn't given cheese to keep him satiated, he could be downright mischievous.

_Meow._

"I hear it too," Marinette agreed, but she didn't see anything either. Her eyes traveled up a nearby tree that was used to decorate the sidewalk. It was fairly tall and at the top, stuck among the leaves and branches, was a shivering, frightened black cat. The cat seemed to be stuck and was staring at the ground with a terrified expression.

"There's a cat stuck up there!" Marinette exclaimed, racing towards the tree. The tree was taller than her and Adrien. Just sticking their arms up there wouldn't be enough to get the cat down. Someone would have to get it down by climbing up. " _This normally is something I would do as Ladybug, but I can't transform since Adrien is right here,"_ Marinette thought, watching the cat in worry. " _Don't worry, kitty! Ladybug isn't here, but Marinette will save the day."_

Marinette took off her purse and backpack, setting them at the base of the tree. "What are you doing?" Adrien asked. Marinette grabbed the base of the tree and smiled, "I'm going to get this poor cat down of course." With that, she jumped into the air, catching the tree's lowest branch. She swung herself up, grabbing onto another branch.

"Be careful!" Adrien exclaimed as he watched Marinette scale the tree. She climbed it with incredible speed almost as if she was used to doing crazy stunts like this. A few stray branches brushed against Marinette's skin, cutting her. Adrien could see tiny patches of blood on her cheeks and his stomach did flips.

"Marinette, this is really dangerous! What'll we do if you fall?"

"I won't fall," Marinette called back down. She was level with the cat now and resting safely on a sturdy branch. She offered her hand out to the cat and whispered, "Come here. I won't hurt you." The cat looked at her hand for a moment and then up at Marinette's face. Marinette smiled at it, hoping to comfort the scared creature. The cat slowly inched forward. "That's it..." Marinette said in a low tone. "Right here..."

The cat moved towards Marinette and into her hands. She scooped him up and patted him on the head. "I've got you," she told it. "You're safe now." She noticed that the cat had stunning green eyes like a certain Chat Noir. " _What a coincidence,"_ Marinette thought as she prepared to send the cat down to Adrien.

"I'm going to hand the cat down to you," Marinette instructed as she held the cat out. "I need you to catch him, okay?"

Adrien nodded and threw off his backpack. He stood underneath the tree and put his arms out. "I'm ready!" He said. Marinette lowered the cat down as far as she could and Adrien stood on his tiptoes to reach her. Marinette released the cat and it fell directly into Adrien's arms. Adrien cradled the cat, noticing how soft it's fur was.

" _He kinda looks like me,"_ he smiled, setting the cat back down on the ground. The cat seemed grateful to be on solid ground again. It turned it's head back to the tree and looked up at Marinette like it was waiting for it's savior to come down and join him.

"Your turn!" Adrien shouted to Marinette. "Be careful! Some of those branches might not be as strong as you think."

"I'll be fine," Marinette replied confidently. She placed her shoe at the intersection of a branch and the tree's trunk. She put a bit of pressure on it to see if it was sturdy. Nothing moved and she assumed that this was a stable place to put her foot. She began to shift her body weight downwards and called back to Adrien, "This is really no big de-!

"Ahhh!"

Marinette screamed as she lost balance and her foot was no longer making contact with the tree. Her body brushed through the leaves and branches, scraping her up. She desperately tried to grab onto something, but all the branches slipped through her fingers, only causing more cuts. Marinette braced herself for a rough and painful landing, but was welcomed by the pleasant surprise of Adrien's strong arms.

As he watched Marinette slip, Adrien immediately rushed forward. He stuck his arms out and thank goodness, she landed in them. She had her eyes squeezed shut and she was shaking. When Marinette opened her eyes, she was greeted by Adrien's laughing face, causing her face to go pink. "I told you to be careful!" He laughed, setting her down on the ground. "That cat had a better chance of getting down than you did. Now look at yourself."

Marinette looked down at herself and realized that she was covered in cuts and bruises. There were small tears in her clothing that she would have to mend later. "Well, at least the cat's safe," she sighed. The black cat walked over to her and rubbed it's head against her leg lovingly. Marinette bent down to pet it, eliciting a soft purr from the animal.

"Thank you for saving me," Marinette smiled, trying to contain her blush. Adrien really had become her knight in shining armor. Without him, she would've gone home with more than a few scrapes. "A prince has to protect his princess," Adrien said with a bow. The nickname sounded a lot better when it was coming from Adrien's lips instead of Chat Noir's.

"Your princess has a special treat for her hero." Marinette grabbed Adrien's hand and pulled him to the bakery entrance which was only a block away. She had him stand outside the door and she ran in. She came out with a delicious looking something in a bag. She handed the bag to Adrien and said, "Try this! It's brand new."

"For free?"

"It's the least I could do for my hero. You did save me. Would you like another form of repayment?"

" _Doesn't the princess normally kiss her knight?"_ Adrien thought. A blush spread across his face as he wiped away the thought. " _No! No! No! Why would you think something like that? You can't just kiss people. I'd only accept a kiss from Ladybug anyways."_ Somehow, Adrien knew that wasn't true, but he ignored it.

"This is plenty," Adrien smiled, not letting on the internal conversation he had. "I will enjoy this on my way home."

"Thanks for walking me back, Adrien," Marinette said sweetly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah..."

Marinette closed the bakery door and Adrien turned around to walk back home. A tiny head poked out of Adrien's shirt. "Finally up from your nap?" Adrien asked as Plagg rubbed his tired eyes. "I've been up for a while," Plagg insisted. "I watched that girl save that cat. I knew I liked her. Plus, I could smell the scent of cheese bread coming from that bakery. You have to get me some of that!"

"She's a hero, that Marinette," Adrien sighed. "She reminds me a lot of Ladybug. Always righteous and willing to do anything for others, even if it gets her into trouble. Those two would probably be good friends and without both of them, I'd probably be a wreck. Marinette helps keep me pulled together more often than she should have to. If I need help with anything, she's always there. I wish I could return the favor."

"It sounds like you're her Chat Noir, huh?" Plagg smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"Someone like her needs someone to have her back just like you and Ladybug. You can't handle all the world's problems on your own. And it sounds like you've become her partner."

"Marinette's Chat Noir..." Adrien trailed off. " _I don't mind the sound of that."_

"That was surprisingly insightful of you, Plagg. I guess there is something up in that brain besides cheese."


	9. An Evening at the Dupain-Cheng's

Marinette closed her textbook with a heavy sigh. Surprisingly, she hadn't been assigned any homework for the night, but she was trying to study. It wasn't working though.

" _This is boring!"_ Marinette moaned, looking over at her clock. It was still early afternoon, so she couldn't transform and roam around as Ladybug just yet. She needed something else to pass the time. " _Maybe I'll text Alya and see if she wants to hang out. She shouldn't be up to much either."_

Marinette quickly texted Alya who responded almost immediately with an unfortunate no. "Sorry, I'm babysitting today," Alya's text read. "Maybe next time?"

" _Great..."_ Marinette thought. " _What should I do now? I don't really have any other friends. I guess I'm stuck here studying for the rest of the night."_

"Alya can't come over?" Tikki asked as she flew over. Marinette shook her head and sighed. "Why don't you invite Adrien?" Tikki suggested. She flew up and grabbed a small string hanging from Marinette's ceiling. With a strong tug, Tikki pulled the string down, unraveling the giant calendar of Adrien's schedule that Marinette had spent weeks working on. Tikki looked for today's date and pointed at it in satisfaction.

"Look! He isn't busy today! Invite him over!"

"I don't know..."

"He's been over here before. It'll be fine. And he'll be really happy to see your parents again too!"

Eventually, Marinette gave in. She grabbed her phone and texted Adrien, "Are you free? Do you want to come over and hang out?" It took all the courage in the world to send that simple message. It sounded like she was asking him out a date though it really wasn't. They would probably just hang around her house anyways.

There was no response and Marinette assumed that Adrien must have been busy. " _Maybe I wrote something down wrong on the schedule..."_ She thought sadly. She was a little disappointed even though she was nervous.

All of a sudden, her phone vibrated with a text from Adrien. "I'll be over there soon," the message read. Marinette let out a fangirl scream and said, "He's actually coming, Tikki! I didn't think he'd actually come!"

"We should probably start cleaning up your room then." Tikki gestured at all the photos of Adrien that Marinette had put back up on the walls. They seemed to have multiplied and Tikki stopped trying to count how many there were. "I'll take down the pictures, you change your wallpaper," Tikki instructed, quickly getting to work.

Within a few minutes, Marinette's room was free of any signs of obsession. The pictures were hidden in her desk draw and her computer wallpaper was set to a picture of her and Alya. The bed was made and there were no clothes lying on the floor.

"Phew," Marinette said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "Crisis averted. Thanks for reminding me , Tikki, or I totally would've forgot."

"No problem!" The kwami smiled. "Adrien is gonna be here soon, so I'm gonna go hide! Good luck! I'll be cheering you on from the shadows."

"Thanks. I promise I'll sneak you some sweets from downstairs once Adrien leaves." Tikki flew away and snuggled in her usual hiding spot. She was eager to watch the development between Adrien and Marinette. She was excited that they were beginning to become real friends which meant love was the obvious next step.

"Marinette! Adrien is here!" Marinette's heard her mother's voice downstairs. She quickly left her bedroom and ran down the stairs, seeing Adrien waiting by the front door. Her parents were standing next to each other, locked in a tight embrace as usual. They did seem to be talking to Adrien, only staring at them. Marinette could only imagine the fantasies running through their heads.

"Ah, Adrien!" Marinette smiled, stepping between him and her parents. "I'm glad you were able to make it since this was kinda short notice. I hope my parents weren't bothering you. Right, Mama, Papa?" Her parents shook their heads with a smile. " _I hope this doesn't go like last time!"_ Marinette pleaded. " _I nearly lost Adrien to dessert."_

"Thanks for inviting me," Adrien replied. "I wasn't doing much and it's great to be back here. It was a pleasure to see you again Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng." He gave them an award winning smile and both of Marinette's parents swooned. " _Please marry our daughter,"_ they thought simultaneously. Marinette saw their expression and quickly grabbed Adrien's hand, pulling him along.

"We can just go upstairs," she told him with a faked smile. Then she turned back to her parents and said, "If we need anything, we'll let you know." Marinette hoped this fake promise would keep her parents downstairs and out of her business. She loved them, but they could get nosy especially when it came to Adrien. The last time he came over, they poked their heads in her bedroom every five minutes to offer the teens snacks.

Adrien and Marinette went up to her room and Marinette pulled up a desk chair for Adrien to sit in. "Your room is really nice," Adrien smiled, admiring his surroundings. "Everything really... suits you. I'm jealous."

"Jealous of my room?" Marinette scoffed. Coming from Adrien is sounded like a joke. His room had a rock climbing wall, multiple computers, grand TVs, video games, a giant shower (which she was a little too familiar with), and a humongous bed. Marinette put a hand on her hip and said, "Your room is way cooler."

"You've been in my room?"

" _Oops,"_ Marinette remembered. " _Marinette has never been in Adrien's room, has she?"_

"I heard it's really cool from Nino. He was completely gushing over it the other day," she lied. " _Nino was at his house when I had to protect Mr. Agreste and Adrien from Simon Says, so that lie sounds believable, right?"_

"Yeah, Nino digs it," Adrien agreed. "I wish he could come over more often, but I don't think my father likes him very much. He called Nino a 'bad influence'. My father can be pretty strict." A sad expression set in on his face as he thought about his father. It only stirred up bad memories.

Marinette watched Adrien's expression change and realized she needed to change the subject. "Do you want to make some Ultimate Mecha Strike?" She said, grabbing a stray game controller that was sitting on her desk. "It's the the 4th one and it looked really good, so I bought. Should we try?"

She offered the controller to Adrien and he took it, his hand brushing over her's for a brief moment. " _Why are his hands so soft?"_ Marinette wondered. " _And they're perfectly manicured. Not to mention, his fingers are long and slim while mine are kinda short and stubby..."_

"Marinette, is something wrong?" Adrien asked. Marinette was staring at his hands and it was making him a tad uncomfortable. "Huh?" Marinette exclaimed, jumping backwards. "No! Nothing's wrong. I just zoned out for a sec. Let me set up the game!"

Marinette pulled a chair up for herself and turned on her computer. She inserted the game's disc and booted it up. The intro screen for Ultimate Mecha Strike IV appeared. Marinette plugged in her two controls and now they were ready to play.

"I think all the basic controls re the same," she explained. "There's just new characters and arenas. I think there's a different story mode too. We'll just play arcade mode for now. Is that okay?"

"Sure."

Immediately, Marinette knew her character was going to be. It was the robot that was reminiscent of a ladybug though it had been revamped for the newest edition. It now came with a detachable yo-yo that swung around and acted as a barrier. " _The creators of this game must be fans..."_ Marinette smiled to herself.

It was weird to see the influence of Ladybug on Paris. There were t-shirts with ladybug patterns and balloons with her face. People drew art of her and Chat Noir while others wrote stories or songs. All the attention was flattering, but surreal. Marinette hardly considered herself a celebrity, but the rest of Paris tended to treat her that way.

Adrien picked a robot with a black cat design. It had been inspired by Chat Noir. It had a baton that it used to fight now. Adrien chuckled to himself as he selected the character. The same thoughts as Marinette were running through his head. Unlike her though, he greatly enjoyed the attention.

"You ready?" Marinette asked as she cracked her knuckles. She loved Adrien and all, but this was game time. She slipped into competitive mode, prepared to win.

"We'll see," Adrien smirked, crossing his arms. "I'm gonna try and beat you this time. Think I have a shot?"

"Maybe if I try playing blindfolded, you'll have a fighting chance..."

The trash talking had begun.

"Don't get too cocky," Adrien said as he reached into his pocket. He pulled out a piece of string that was laced with different beads. He held it by the tip and waved it in front of Marinette. "I always have my lucky charm."

"You kept that!"

"Of course! It's special to me," Adrien smiled as he held the charm carefully in his hands. "It's a present from a friend and I need all the good luck I can get. I take it everywhere I go. It's especially helpful during tough photo shoots. It helps calm me down if I get nervous."

Recently, the charm had gained even more meaning. It was a reminder of Marinette. Everytime Adrien felt lonely, he took it out and remembered Marinette. His heart would warm up a little and the feeling of loneliness would vanish. Adrien felt at peace, feeling something was watching over him. Little did he know it was Marinette's love.

Marinette was silent. " _H-He actually kept it,"_ she thought, her heart beating wildly. " _That makes me so happy. I didn't think he'd actually use it."_

Adrien put the charm away and put his hands on his controller. "Are you trying to stall?" He raised an eyebrow and pressed the start button. "I won't fall for your tricks, Mari! I plan on winning!" The game started and Adrien and Marinette were thrust into a match. Marinette was caught off guard, but it didn't matter. She would still pull through, but while she was playing, her eyes kept drifting to Adrien's face. She was still so happy.

The teens played over a dozen games and much to Marinette's dismay, Adrien was able to win two of them. "I let you win," Marinette replied defensively, unwilling to accept defeat. Adrien shook his head and said, "Nope! I won fair and square. I guess you're lucky charm really is lucky!"

They burst into laughter and Adrien felt grateful that he had someone to spend time with like Marinette. She was a gem, always smiling and making jokes. She was never rude and treated him like a human being even if she acted a little strange sometimes. He felt like he could trust Marinette with any problem and she would solve it for him. She was very resourceful.

After facing a few more defeats, Adrien shouted, "I conceed! Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are the winner. I give up!" He set the controller down on the desk and put his hands in the air. Marinette giggled and turned off the computer. She admitted that Adrien's skills had gotten better, but he still wasn't as good as her.

Adrien got out of his chair and wandered through Marinette's bedroom. He stood underneath her window and looked out. There was a lovely view on Paris. He glanced down at the ground and the back to Marinette. "Is this where Chat Noir stood when he visited you?" He asked. "That's pretty cool..."

"Yep, right there," Marinette said, standing up to join Adrien. She walked over to him and pointed at the floor. "He jumped in right through that window. That damn cat couldn't even bother to use the door. He must be an alley cat for sure, no manners at all."

"Going through the window is a much more eye- _cat_ ching entrance though, don't ya think?" Adrien teased. Marinette rolled her eyes and walked away. She couldn't deal with two boys that made cat jokes. One was too much already. "C'mon, Marinette!" Adrien insisted as Marinette left him. Seeing her annoyed expression brought him great pleasure. "Are you not _feline_ good?"

"Talking about Chat Noir doesn't give you the right to make cat puns," Marinette sighed, rubbing her temples. " _I swear to god Adrien was cooler than this, but he might be an even bigger dork than Chat Noir."_ She looked up at his laughing face and innocent smile. " _It's a good thing I like dorks too."_

"Marinette! Adrien! It's dinner time!" A sweet voice called from downstairs. Marinette looked at the clock and realized that it was already time for dinner. She hadn't intended for Adrien to stay this long, but apparently her parents had.

"Is it alright if I eat with you?" Adrien asked. "I don't want to impose."

"It's fine. My parents really want you to stay, trust me."

"I'll text Nathalie then and tell her I'm having dinner here."

As Adrien texted Nathalie, Marinette thought about how she always found that relationship odd. " _Adrien doesn't have a mother, but he has that manager. I wonder if she takes care of him in place of his mom. No, probably not. She seems too stuffy for that. I don't think I've ever seen her smile. I hope she's nice to him."_

"Nathalie says it's fine," Adrien exclaimed happily. "Let's go eat!"

Marinette and Adrien went down to the dinner table and were met with piles of freshly baked rolls and heaps of pasta. There was over five different kinds of pasta each with a different sauce Sabine had made. The table was neatly set with four plates out. Tom and Sabine were already seated. Marinette and Adrien quickly joined them.

"You didn't have to make this much food!" Marinette shouted, sitting down in her chair. "There's enough here to feed a small country!"

"We didn't know what Adrien liked, so we just made everything," Sabine smiled. "Please try one of the rolls, Adrien. Tom just pulled them out of the oven." Adrien grabbed a roll and pulled it into two pieces, watching a wisp of steam emerge. It didn't get fresher than this. He put the piece into his mouth and chewed.

"Wow! This is incredible!" Adrien said, finishing off the rest of the roll. Tom gave a hearty laugh and told Adrien to take another one. Adrien took five along with giant heaps of pasta. Marinette watched him eat like a starved prisoner. She didn't know Adrien had such an obsession for food. She grabbed a roll of her own and a small portion of pasta. As she started eating, she couldn't take her eyes off Adrien. Watching him eat was more entertaining than she expected.

"How are you parents doing, Adrien?" Sabine asked in the middle of the meal. " _Oh no!"_ Marinette thought. " _I never told them about Adrien's mother! Shoot! What do I do?"_

"My father is well," Adrien said, not letting his sentence interrupt the forkful of pasta headed for his mouth. "He's been really busy lately, so I haven't seen him much."

"And your mother?"

"She's... she's not here right now."

Marinette facepalmed and cursed herself for not changing the subject earlier. Now it was too late. The table was silent. Adrien twirled his pasta around without saying a word. Marinette looked to her parents, begging them to say something.

"I'm sorry to hear that..." Sabine frowned as she set down her fork. "But I think she'd be proud to see that her boy has grown into the fine young man sitting at this dinner table."

"Thank you, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng," Adrien smiled shyly. His eyes traveled up to Marinette who offered him a kind smile. Adrien had never shared much detail about his family relationships with other people. His mother had always been his own little secret. The only people he had ever shared his mom with was his father and Ladybug. Ladybug told him that he and his mother shared the same smile.

Adrien felt the sudden urge to show Marinette and her family the pictures of his mother. For some reason, he wanted Marinette to know this side of him. The side that was a lonely boy who missed his mother. " _Maybe it's time to share..."_ Adrien thought, reaching for his phone. " _It's been a few years now. Maybe I should move on."_

"This is a picture of my mother." Adrien put his phone in the center of the table, a picture of his mother showing. Marinette recalled seeing the picture on Adrien's computer. Mrs. Agreste was just as beautiful as Marinette remembered. She had long, golden hair like Adrien's. Her eyes were emerald green. She had a kind face. Her resemblance to her son was uncanny. He could be no other woman's child.

"She's beautiful," Sabine said. Marinette nodded her head in agreement. Marinette knew it probably took a lot of courage for Adrien to show her family that picture. He never talked about his mother at school, but he had told Ladybug about her. " _Why did he trust Ladybug with that information?"_ Marinette wondered. " _As Ladybug, Adrien and I are practically strangers. He is a big fan of Ladybug, but I don't think most people would spill their secrets to just someone they admire,especially Adrien."_

After that, the chatter at the table returned to normal. Tom and Sabine asked the kids about school. Adrien talked about his modeling career and also his upcoming fencing match which Tom and Sabine promised to go watch. Marinette told her parents about the design contest she entered, omitting the details about Chat Noir sneaking into her room. It felt like they were all one big, happy family.

Once dinner ended, Tom and Sabine offered to clean up all the dishes. They asked Marinette to walk Adrien to the door where his limo waited outside. "Thank you for letting me have dinner with you," Adrien smiled as he and Marinette waited by the door. "It was delicious. I wish I could have dinner like that every night."

"You don't?"

"Ah... no. My father normally isn't home, so I eat by myself."

"You can come here anytime!" Marinette blurted out after hearing Adrien's sad story. "We'll make any food you want! Just name it!"

"Thanks," Adrien laughed. "I might take you up on that later. You have a really great family, Marinette."

"I know. I love them very much even if they can be really nosy." Marinette glanced behind her and saw her parents watching her from behind the stairs. Sabine gave her a thumbs up and Marinette internally groaned. They were definitely "nosy", but lovable. She couldn't imagine growing up in a home where she didn't get warm hugs when she came home for school. A home where she had no one to help her with her homework. A home where she had to eat alone every night. A shiver ran through Marinette's spine.

Adrien opened the front door, prepared to walk out. Marinette impulsively grabbed his sleeve and shouted, "Wait!" Adrien turned back to her with a raised eyebrow, trying to disguise his secret excitement. "If y-you want..." Marinette stammered, putting her hands behind her back. "You can be a part of our family."

"I think I'd like that very much."


	10. The Bedroom of Adrien Agreste

Adrien was sitting on his computer, browsing through the Ladyblog. The video Alya and Nino had been working on was posted. It was a small documentary about some of Ladybug and Chat Noir's toughest battles. Adrien was impressed with the quality, but the video didn't give him any more leads on Ladybug's identity. And even though he had seen Ladybug a few days prior, he wanted to see her again.

" _She was right here in my room once,"_ Adrien reminisced as he looked around his bedroom. " _She stood right there and waited for me. She sounded really nervous when I was pretending to shower. It was adorable! She never gets that flustered around Chat Noir..."_

There was a slight blush on Adrien's face. " _Every time she sees me as Adrien_ , _she seems to get nervous like how Marinette used to be. I wonder why... What's so different between Adrien and Chat Noir? If anything, wouldn't a man clothed completely in black with matching cat ears and a tail be weirder than some boring model?"_

" _Does she know me as Adrien? Is that why she acted strange? I hope I didn't scare her off because I'm a model. I don't want her to think of me that way. Even though I want her to love Chat Noir, I would want her to love Adrien too..."_

" _Ladybug, just who are you?"_

"Are you in one of those moods again?" Plagg sighed as he sat down on Adrien's. "Every time you look at this blog, you get these weird goo-goo eyes and don't say anything for hours. I couldn't think about anything for that long. Not even cheese!"

"I have so many questions about her, Plagg," Adrien moaned, leaning back in his chair. "The more time I spend with her, the more questions I have."

"I thought you were getting over this now that you had that Marinette girl."

Adrien's heart thumped and his posture stiffened. A few weeks ago, Adrien would've simply scolded Plagg and told him to buzz off. But now, Adrien couldn't deny his words. There was something about Marinette that had creeped inside him. The mention of her name caused his body to tingle and his face to heat up. Her kindness entrapped him and her smile made him weak in the knees.

How had he let this happen?

"Plagg... is it okay to like more than one girl at once even if you like one more than the other?"

"Kid, I think you're asking all the wrong questions." Plagg had a devious smirk like he knew something Adrien didn't. Adrien could see the cogs turning in the little creature's head and wondered what he was talking about.

Adrien exited out of the Ladyblog and was met with his homescreen, a picture of his mother. " _If she were still here, she'd know what to say,"_ Adrien thought sadly. " _She was always so outgoing and tough like Ladybug. She would go out of her way to help anyone and everyone. Maybe that's why I love my lady so much... She's just like Mom."_

" _So is Marinette,"_ a voice in Adrien's head interrupted. " _She's just as strong and brave as Ladybug. Marinette is kind and helps everyone even if she puts herself in danger. That was something Mom always did. And her smile is just like Mom's too."_

"I should stop thinking about these things!" Adrien sighed, breaking away from his thoughts. "I'm starting to get a headache."

"Should you work on this design?" Plagg said. The kwami pulled a piece of paper out of Adrien's desk. It was the sketch he had worked on with Marinette. Little else had been done to it since he worked on it with Marinette. Adrien had gotten so caught up in spending time with the pig-tailed girl that he had forgotten to work on the design!

Adrien grabbed the paper and looked over the notes Marinette wrote him. " _What do all these mean?"_ He thought. " _I completely forgot everything! God, I'm such an idiot. What should I do now?"_

"I don't remember what half these notes mean," Adrien sighed, setting the paper down. He rubbed his temples and tried to think. He knew he had to color it, but Marinette had told him to make other adjustments too.

"Call Marinette over," Plagg said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you two work together, you could have the whole thing finished in no time."

"Did you not just listen to the conversation we just had?"

Plagg shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care if you finish the design or not. All I want is more cheese!" The kwami flew over to Adrien's secret stash of camembert and began to gobble the wheels of cheese up. Adrien gave an exasperated sigh. He knew Plagg was right. He couldn't do this without Marinette.

Reluctantly, Adrien grabbed his phone and dialed Marinette's number which he had somehow memorized by heart. She quickly picked up and said a confused "hello?" into the receiver. "Hey, it's Adrien," Adrien explained. "I need some last minute help with my design and I was wondering if you could come over and help."

"I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Thanks, Mari." Adrien hung up the phone and took a deep breath. During that entire conversation, he felt oddly anxious. " _Snap out of it,"_ Adrien cursed himself. " _Ladybug will think you're just another dumb flirt if you like another girl. Ladybug! Not Marinette!"_

Marinette was standing outside the Agreste Mansion completely motionless and about ready to pee herself. As Marinette, she had been there once before for Adrien's birthday party which ended up being nothing more than akuma attack. This was the first time Adrien had invited to her over personally and she was freaking out.

"Marinette, you have to press the button," Tikki whispered from inside Marinette's handbag. Marinette nodded and reached a nervous hand over the button on the gate. A camera appeared and a voice said, "What business do you have here?"

"A-Adrien invited me over. We have to work on something..." Marinette stammered. The camera would never stop being creepy. The camera retracted and the gates opened. Marinette took a hopeful step forward and tried to contain her urge to scream. She was really doing this.

She entered the mansion and was greeted by Adrien who had been waiting for her. "Nathalie didn't give you too much trouble at the gate, did she?" He asked. Marinette shook her head. "Good," Adrien smiled. "Sometimes she can be mean to guests."

"Your house is so big!" Marinette said in pretend awe. She had to act like she hadn't been here before. "You could fit the bakery in here ten times over!"

"It's a bit overkill if you ask me. How could two people fill up a mansion this size?" Most of the time, it's only one person.

"I see what you mean..." Marinette agreed. A place like this could easily feel large and lonely. Not to mention, the walls were gray and dismal. The only bits of color were some plants and a painting of Adrien's mother that Marinette could barely between the doors on the sidewall. When she had visited as Ladybug, she had seen the painting. It was an incredible work of art.

Adrien led Marinette up to his bedroom which he had kind of forgotten to clean for her visit. It wasn't a big mess. There were just a few stray clothes here and there, nothing too embarrassing. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice that or the faint smell of cheese. That was all Plagg's fault.

"I don't have another desk chair, but you can sit on the bed if you'd like." Adrien gestured to his king-sized bed and Marinette happily accepted his offer. She plopped down on the bed and was amazed at how soft it was. It was like sleeping on a pile of feathers. She could definitely get used to sleeping on this every night. While lying on the bed, Marinette spotted the door to Adrien's bathroom and blushed. She was still embarrassed about that moment.

"So how far are you with your design?" Marinette asked while playing with one of the pillows on the bed. "You should be close to finished, right?"

Adrien let out a nervous laugh and said, "Well.. I might have forgot about it, so there's still a lot of work to do and I couldn't remember what any of the notes I took meant so..."

"You've really dug yourself a hole here. Good thing I can get you out. We'd better get started right away!"

The pair immediately got to work. Adrien closely followed Marinette's instructions, but wouldn't let her do any of the work herself. He insisted that at least a little bit of the work had to be done on his own. Marinette oversaw the coloring and detail work, making sure to stop Adrien before he made any grand mistakes. He accidentally grabbed the purple colored pencil instead of the black one which would have been a grave mistake if Marinette hadn't stopped him.

Having Marinette hover over him the whole time was starting to get to Adrien. When she needed look over his shoulder, she would lean against his back and point at what he needed to fix. Her scent filled the room. It smelled like sugar and spice. It was becoming intoxicating. Adrien found himself struggling to focus.

Marinette, on the other hand, was the opposite. When she was thinking about fashion, nothing could distract her, not even Adrien. She was efficient and worked smartly. Her closeness to Adrien didn't even faze her. She was too focused on the task of finishing the design.

After about an hour of hard work, the design was finally complete. It was exactly how Adrien had imagined it with a little bit of Marinette's magic touch.

"It looks amazing now!" Adrien said in shock. He could hardly believed he had contributed to something so wonderful, but he knew most of the credit had to go to Marinette. "I wish I was as good as you," Adrien sighed. "Marinette, you're amazing at everything. Not to mention, everyone likes you..."

"I would disagree," Marinette smiled, sitting back down on the bed. "I'm terrible at physics and Chloe hates me with a passion. I'm hardly perfect."

" _In fact, I'm probably the clumsiest, most awkward, unperfect girl in the whole world,"_ Marinette thought. " _I suppose it's all a matter of perspective though. The grass is always greener, they say."_

"Also, everyone loves you too," Marinette continued. "You're sweet and kind to everyone. I've never met a person who didn't like you."

"But it's all just lies. People only like me because my father is famous or because they think I'm cute. It's not real..."

"You're wrong!" Marinette cried, surprising Adrien. "People like you because of how you treat others. You're a role model. You work hard everyday and treat people with respect even Chloe! People notice that. I notice that..." Her last sentence trailed off quietly.

"You always know what to say," Adrien said, getting out of his chair. "This isn't the first time you've helped snap me out of a funk. It's like you see right through me."

"It's not that hard," Marinette giggled. "You wear your emotions on your sleeve when you're around someone you trust. A friend of mine is the exact same. I can always tell when he's upset." Adrien stiffened at the mention of the word "he". He didn't know Marinette had other male friends outside of him and Nino. He felt a little jealous.

Both of them went quiet for a moment. Deep moments like these were becoming more common between the two of them. Adrien wasn't afraid to spill his heart out to Marinette and she wasn't nervous about telling him her fears. Neither of them seemed to notice the steps they were taking. Adrien didn't realize how close he had become to Marinette. Marinette didn't realize that she was no longer a stuttery mess when she talked to Adrien. After a long wait, they finally stood on equal ground.

"Do you want something to eat?" Adrien said suddenly. "I can grab something from the kitchen if you'd like. You've been here for a while, so you're probably hungry."

"Uh, s-sure," Marinette replied, recovering from the moment of silence.

"Great. I'll be back in a few minutes." Adrien left the bedroom to go get food. Marinette opened her purse and let Tikki fly out. "Tikki, we're really here in Adrien's bedroom!" Marinette squealed, her hands shaking violently. "I can't believe it! I've only dreamed about moments like this!"

"Marinette, did you see the way Adrien looked at you?" Tikki smiled. "I've been around for a long time and I know that look he kept giving you was one of love. You need to confess!"

"Confess! Tikki, are you crazy? I've never even thought about confessing. It's too much. While I trust your judgement, I don't want to risk the friendship that I built with Adrien. It's really important to the both of us and I can't ruin that. I'll keep my feelings to myself for now. It's better that way."

Tikki was surprised at Marinette's consideration for Adrien's feelings. She expected Marinette to plough forward with her crush, but for once, she had stopped to consider the consequences. It was clear that Marinette had thought long and hard about this already. She cared too much about Adrien to risk letting him go. Having him by her side as friend would be enough.

There was a sudden crack of thunder and a flash of lightning. Marinette looked out the windows and saw huge drops of rain falling from the sky. " _When did it start raining?"_ Marinette wondered. The skies had been perfectly clear when she arrived.

Marinette laid her head against one of Adrien's pillows. She could smell his scent on them. " _This is Adrien's bed,"_ she smiled to herself. " _He sleeps here."_ She closed her eyes and imagined Adrien lying in the bed. Tikki hovered above her, giving her a strange look.

"Marinette?" Tikki asked. She poked the Marinette's nose, but garnered no response. "Marinette?"

It was no use. The poor girl had fallen asleep.


	11. An Accidental Confession

Adrien rummaged around in the kitchen for a bit, grabbing whatever snacks he could find. There was a half full bag of potato chips and a box of cookies. Adrien recalled Marinette saying something about cookies. He also grabbed some camembert for Plagg just so the kwami would keep quiet while Marinette was over. Adrien didn't need him causing any trouble.

He walked back upstairs and opened his bedroom door. "Marinette, I brought some snacks if you want to..."

His eyes fell onto the sleeping girl in his bed. Her eyes were closed and her breath was rhythmic and steady. Adrien set down the snacks on his desk and then walked over to the bed. He hovered above her, watching her sleep.

" _Wow... she's really cute when she's asleep,"_ Adrien thought, carefully sitting down next to her. He didn't want to wake her up, but he didn't want to leave either. Slowly, he slipped his hand around hers and noticed how warm it felt. He blushed and then pulled his hand back. " _Don't be weird..."_ He cursed himself.

"She actually fell asleep!" A tiny voice shouted. Plagg came flying out of his hiding spot and sat on Marinette. He looked down at her, impressed. "I wish I could nap like that!"

"Plagg, please get off of her and keep your voice down. What if she hears you and wakes up? How am I going to explain you?"

"You two should date."

"Plagg!"

"I saw you hold her hand!"

Adrien had no comeback for that one. He buried his head in his hands and groaned. " _This is becoming a mess. I like Marinette a lot, but I really love Ladybug. She's the only girl that completely understands and knows the real me. Not to mention she's absolutely breathtaking..."_ But when he looked back at Marinette's face, his felt butterflies in his stomach and found it hard to look away.

Eventually, he left the bed and decided to let her sleep. It helped calm his mind too. Adrien wandered around his room a bit, waiting for her to wake up. He mostly browsed the Ladyblog and tried to avoid looking back over at Marinette. Every time he glanced back, he felt unsure of himself. The rain was beginning to lighten though it was still a steady drizzle.

It was around 6:00 when Adrien decided to wake Marinette up. " _She probably should go home,"_ he thought as he approached the bed. " _Her parents will start to worry if she gets back too late."_ He slowly started to shake her and whispered her name. Marinette let out a cute whimper and her eyes fluttered Adrien. "A-Adrien?" She mumbled, still half asleep.

"You should head home, sleeping beauty. It's getting late." Adrien pointed at the clock. Marinette sat upright and grabbed her head in shock. "Oh no! I fell asleep, didn't I?" She exclaimed. "This is really embarrassing. I'm so sorry!"

"It's not a big deal," Adrien laughed, amused by Marinette's reaction. "I'm just glad you got some sleep. You've seemed really tired these past few months."

"I've been having some... err, late nights."

"I completely understand. It's been the same for me too."

Marinette got out of bed and thanked Adrien for letting her stay. "I'll get going now," Marinette promised. Adrien decided to walk her to the door since his mansion was confusing and he didn't want her to get lost on the way. They walked down to the main entrance and Marinette opened the door. To her dismay, it was still raining and if she walked home like this, she would be soaking wet.

"Ah, don't leave yet," Adrien smiled. "I think I have just the thing." Adrien disappeared for a moment, leaving Marinette to her thoughts. " _I can't believe I fell asleep in his bed!"_ Marinette groaned. " _He didn't seem to mind, but still... I got to sleep in Adrien Agreste's bed! All of this is like a dream come true. The only thing that could make this better is if I could actually work up to courage to confess. But maybe that isn't such a good idea. I know I'd be rejected immediately..."_

"Here you go!" Adrien came back with a black umbrella in his hands. "This should be exactly what you need!" He opened the umbrella and checked to make sure it was in good shape. He handed it to Marinette with a smile and said, "Don't let this one close on you, okay?" He laughed at his own joke.

For Marinette, the world seemed to slow down. All she could hear was Adrien's laughter. The sounds of the rain were blocked out. All she could see was his face, smiling at her. Her heartbeat quickened and red blush spread across her cheeks. Adrien handed the umbrella to her and she carefully took it in her hands. She held it above her and thought, " _This is just like the first time we met. It's almost as if fate wants me too.."_

There was a sudden crack of thunder and the words accidentally slipped out of Marinette's mouth.

"I love you..."

The confused expression on Adrien's face made Marinette want to throw up. HIs body recoiled in shock and his eyebrow furrowed. " _I've made a mistake!"_ Marinette cried to herself, her heart stinging. " _I didn't mean to... I shouldn't have done that!"_ Small tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. Why? Why had she done that?

"Marinette?" Adrien said, noticing the girl's tears. He reached out to grab her shoulder, but she pulled away. Adrien cringed and felt his own beating heart. Her confession had caught him off guard, but he had been flattered by it. A comfortable warmth grew in his chest. However, Adrien knew he couldn't let it grow any bigger. There was another girl in his life that he needed. She was the reason he could wake up everyday with a smile. Adrien's mouth became dry as he tried to move his lips to say something. He knew his words were going to hurt, but there was nothing else for him to say.

"I like... I like someone else."

That was the final nail in the coffin. Marinette stepped outside into the rain and said with a sad smile, "I figured you did. I'm sorry for bothering you. Just forget everything." Adrien saw the sadness in her eyes and his heart broke into a million pieces. She gripped the umbrella tightly and then ran off. He could still hear her cries as she left.

Adrien felt a strong urge to chase after her, but he remained motionless. He watched her disappear, stone-faced and unsure of what to do. " _Her confession..."_ He thought. " _I... I didn't think she liked me that way and it felt... so good to hear her say those words, but I hurt her so much. I don't think I can ever look her in the eyes again..."_

"What the hell is wrong with you?" An angry voice yelled from inside Adrien's shirt. Plagg stuck his head out he was upset. "What kind of gentleman are you? Are you just gonna let her go that easily? Chase after her, dumbass!"

Plagg's words were brutally honest, but they were what Adrien needed to hear. The boy's eyes widened as he realized he made a terrible mistake. "The longer you wait, the further away she gets!" Plagg shouted. "I'm going back to sleep and by the time I wake up, I expect you and that girl to have patched things up. I don't want to see you lose a friend over something silly like this otherwise I'll hear about it for the next month!" Plagg went back into his usual pocket and closed his eyes. Now, everything was on Adrien.

The blonde boy darted out into the rain without an umbrella. He pushed through the gate and looked down the sidewalk. " _Marinette's house is in that direction,"_ he thought, quickly running to the side. " _Please don't get too far, Marinette! I'm coming! I have to tell you I'm sorry! I can't let things end like this!"_

Marinette kept on running. She didn't know what to do anymore. She was sobbing and despite having an umbrella, she was fairly soaked. Her face was red from crying and her hair had fallen out of their usual pigtails. Completely absorbed in her sorrows, Marinette didn't notice a puddle in front of her and slipped right into it.

Water splashed all over her clothes. Her knees scraped across the ground causing them to sting. The pain was nothing compared to her heartbreak though. Marinette kneeled in the puddle, not bothering to stand up. " _I can't do it,"_ she cried to herself. " _I can't..."_ She buried her head in her hands, letting the umbrella fall to the ground. She didn't mind letting the rain hit her. Maybe it would wash away the pain.

Suddenly, Marinette felt the rain stop falling on her. She looked up and saw a short, old man holding an umbrella over her head. He had a soft smile and said, "You'll get wet like that." Marinette recognized the man as Mr. Fu, the doctor she had taken Tikki to and also the master of all Miraculous knowledge. They had only met a few times, but Marinette knew him to be a kind and wise man. Why was he here though?

"Why are you crying?" Mr. Fu asked in a calm tone. Marinette was silent for a moment, but then uttered, "I was rejected." She had to force the words out of her mouth. They made her mouth take like metal and her stomach churn. There were more tears now than ever before.

Mr. Fu knelt down beside Marinette, still holding the umbrella over her head. "You are a brave young woman," he smiled. "It took guts to do what you did. You shouldn't be embarrassed or have regrets. I believe your feelings got through to him. The future can only hold great things."

Marinette felt her heart calm down as she listened to Mr. Fu's kind words. Her breathing slowed and the tears began to dry up. " _Don't cry..."_ Marinette whispered to herself. " _He's right. Everything will be fine. You can do this!"_ Slowly, Marinette rose to her feet with a firm smile.

"Thank yo-" As she was about to say thank, Marinette noticed that Mr. Fu had completely vanished. " _Where did he go? He was right here a second ago?"_

Adrien was sprinting as fast as his legs would take him, but he couldn't find Marinette. " _Where could she have gone?"_ He thought in anguish. " _I could've sworn her house was this way!"_

"Are you looking for something?" A deep voice said from behind him. Adrien turned around to see a short Asian man, holding an umbrella. He had an odd smile on his face.

"I'm looking for a girl about medium height with blueish hair," Adrien stammered quickly. "She puts in pigtails and is carrying a black umbrella! Have you seen her?"

"Perhaps..." The old man mused as he stroked his beard. "You seem very distressed, boy. Did you do something wrong?"

"Sir, I've made a big mistake and I need to find that girl. I have to say I'm sorry. I can't let her go like this." Adrien's hair was sticking to his face from the rain. He was soaked to the bone, but he didn't care. He needed to find Marinette.

The man nodded and said, "It is very admirable of you to chase after her. I believe I saw her in that direction." The man gestured down the street and gave Adrien a wise smile.

"Thank you so much, sir!"

"One last thing, boy."

"Yes?"

"Do not ignore the wonderful thing in front of you. It might be what you have been searching for the whole time."

The man walked off, holding his umbrella steady. Adrien was puzzled by the man's cryptic words, but didn't spend much time dwelling on them. He started sprinting in the direction the man said Marinette was in. " _Please don't be gone,"_ Adrien begged.

A figure came into Adrien's view. It was a girl walking slowly with a black umbrella above her. Adrien ran forward and reached his arm out to her.

"Marinette!"


	12. Making Things Right

Marinette heard a familiar voice call out her name. It was sweet yet filled with sorrow. Cautiously, she turned around and found Adrien standing behind her, completely soaked. He was a mess which was an unusual sight. He looked pained, but relieved to see Marinette.

"Adrien!" the girl cried out, putting the umbrella over his head. "What are you doing? You'll get sick like this!" Even when broken hearted, Marinette still cared about Adrien. She didn't want him to suffer because of her. That would only make her feel worse.

Adrien watched Marinette's eyes scan over him. " _Why is she still being so nice to me?"_ He wondered. " _I rejected her. I broke her heart. How can she still be so kind?"_ He saw the puffiness around her eyes and the red tear stains. Her normal sparkling blue eyes lacked their usual luster.

In a moment of impulse, Adrien grabbed Marinette and pulled her close, hugging her with all his might. "I'm sorry," he whispered into her ear. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Her body felt warm despite the rain. It gave him comfort while he was nervous. "I didn't know you felt that way this whole time. I'm really an idiot, but please don't cry anymore. You deserve better than me. You deserve as a person as wonderful as you. I don't think I can be that guy."

Marinette was shocked by the sudden hug, but returned it. She listened to Adrien's words and her heart tightened with every one. She didn't say a word in response. Instead, she just listened silently.

"I'm sorry."

The words repeated over and over in Marinette's head. She didn't want him to be sorry. Truthfully, she wanted him to return her feelings, but she knew that wouldn't happen. But she didn't want him to feel like it was his fault. It was hers. She would shoulder the burden. They were her feelings after all.

"It's okay," she smiled, looking up at Adrien from underneath the umbrella. She pulled away from the hug and said, "You don't have to be sorry. You did nothing wrong."

The rain caused Marinette's hair to be out of place and for once, her ears were clearly visible. Adrien noticed the pair of earrings she was wearing. He had never noticed them before because her ears were always covered. They had a stunning black sheen and looked oddly familiar, but now wasn't the time for idling about her earrings though.

"Thank you for coming back though," Marinette continued. "It really means a lot. And even though I was rejected, I'm very happy I fell in love with you, Adrien. There isn't a nicer guy in all of Paris." The next sentence Marinette had to force out. She choked on her words as she said, "I-if you don't mind me asking, who is the girl you like? She is a very lucky girl..."

Adrien laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn't lie to Marinette now. He would tell her the truth. She deserved that much. "That's just it..." He chuckled, his face turning a little pink. "This is gonna sound really stupid, but I have a crush on Ladybug. I know it's an impossible love, but I can't help it..."

Marinette's whole world stopped. Her face went pale and her blood went cold. "L-Ladybug?" She stammered, taking a step away from Adrien. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. " _It's impossible,"_ she worried. " _I thought he was just a fan. There's no way he could actually love Ladybug!"_

"Yeah," Adrien sighed. "It sounds pretty embarrassing when you say it out loud like that."

" _I'm competing with myself,"_ Marinette thought, more tears beginning to form. " _Of course he would fall in love with everything I'm not. Ladybug is brave, strong, and beautiful. I'm just clumsy, stupid Marinette. I can hardly stay awake in class while Ladybug can save all of Paris. I can't compete with that. In front of Adrien, Marinette is nothing compared to Ladybug. Nothing..."_

"I know I should give it up," Adrien continued. He was so absorbed in his thoughts about Ladybug that he failed to see Marinette's expression change. "She's a superhero after all and I'm just Adrien Agreste, a normal guy. There's nothing special about me. I'm overly obedient and bland. Who would like a guy like that? Oh..."

Marinette kept wiping her face, trying to hide the tears from Adrien. She couldn't cry anymore. She wouldn't let herself.

"That's not true!" Marinette insisted, grabbing Adrien's attention. "I think Ladybug..." Marinette swallowed her words and tried starting again. "I think Ladybug likes you very much!"

"You think? We've only met a few times, but every time she's just so... I can't even put it into words. Even when she's angry or jealous, there's just something about that girl that I can't pull my eyes away from. She's perfect and I feel like I'm everything but."

Marinette gave Adrien a soft smile and replied, "I don't think Ladybug's perfect. She has her bad days too. She can be stubborn and get jealous. She makes mistakes. Ladybug is a lot of things, but definitely not perfect and I don't know if it's right to put her on a pedestal like that. After all underneath that mask is a normal girl trying to make it through life just like us. You two are more alike than you think. She definitely likes you."

"Thanks... You always seem to know what to say. I know I can't give up so easily. It might be a fruitless love, but I'll keep trying my hardest." Adrien was beaming as he was filled with new energy. His advances at Ladybug had never been half-hearted, but maybe there was something more he could do. Ladybug was human too and if he treated her as such, she might finally respond.

Adrien smiled and grabbed her hand, signaling his thanks. Marinette could feel the coolness of his ring as it rest against her finger. She observed it and noticed it reminded her of Chat Noir's. " _Chat Noir."_ Marinette thought with a smile. " _I wish that stupid cat was here right now. I need to someone to make me smile. I've never wanted to hear a bad cat pun so badly in my life."_

"Marinette, can we still be friends?"

Her grip on the umbrella's handle tightened. This was it, the end of her first love. To Adrien, she would never be anything more than a friend and she would have to accept that. She couldn't bear losing him forever. He was her everything.

"Of course we can, Adrien."

She handed the umbrella to him. "You should take this," she smiled, though it was fake. "I'm close to home. I don't need it anymore."

"Keep it," he grinned, pushing it back towards her. "I'm wet already. You can at least stay a little dry." Marinette nodded and held the umbrella over her head. She mumbled a quiet good-bye and walked away.

Adrien watched her figure fade again, but his heart still didn't feel contented. He wished he could do more for Marinette. He wished he didn't have to hurt her this way. " _If I hadn't met Ladybug first, would I have fallen head over heels for Marinette?"_ He wondered. " _Those two are so similar. They're both brave and bold. They put up with my stupid jokes, but also listen to what I have to say. One's my partner and the other is my friend. Somehow though... Ladybug managed to snatch this poor cat's heart."_

He walked home, not minding the rain anymore. The front gate was still open from when he left. He wandered inside and was greeted by an empty home. Thank goodness Nathalie had left for a business meeting or he would've been scolded for going out in the rain. Adrien walked up to his bedroom and took off his shirt, tossing it onto the bed. He would need some dry clothes.

Plagg came tumbling out of the wet shirt with a loud cry. "What gives?" He shouted, rubbing a bump on his head. "I'm absolutely soaking wet! There's nothing worse from waking up from a nap completely drenched!"

"Sorry Plagg, I forgot you were in there," Adrien said as he put on a fresh shirt.

"So tell me what happened?" Plagg asked eagerly. He flew off the bed and over to Adrien. "Did you get the girl? I bet she was happy to see you come running. Tell me about her face. Was she smiling? What did she say? Did you guys kiss?" Underneath his grumpy exterior, Plagg had a soft spot for love even if sometimes made him sick to his stomach. He liked seeing his kittens succeed in their romantic endeavors.

"Don't tease me," Adrien moaned. "You know I already feel bad about breaking Marinette's heart. I feel like the bad guy here and I don't even know if I made the right choice rejecting her. I told her I love Ladybug, but when I saw her expression..."

"You told her you like Ladybug?!"

"Yeah, she probably thinks I'm an idiot now. I let her down because I have a crush on Paris's greatest superheroine who might never return my feelings. Speaking of Ladybug, I wanna transform and go visit her. She's the only thing that can calm me down now. Maybe she can offer some advice."

"You are an idiot!" Plagg screamed, throwing his arms into the air. He flew over and smacked Adrien across the cheek with his tiny paw, leaving a red mark. "The girl that you've been pining after months confessed to you and you turned her down! I told you to chase her so that you could confess your love, not turn her down a second time! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Plagg, I don't understand. I like Marinette a lot, but Ladybug..."

The attitude. The kindness. The courage. The smile. The haircut. The cute, little freckles around her nose.

_The earrings._

"I need to transform," Adrien announced suddenly. Everything in his head clicked and a black hole of regret was starting to consume him. How could he have been so blind? It was no wonder he had fallen in love with Marinette. He had fallen in love with her as Ladybug too. They were the exact same people, with and without the mask, but somehow he had missed the obvious. Now, he had to go make things right again.

For the second time.

"Claws out!"

There was a flash of green and Adrien became Chat Noir. He pushed open his window and hopped out. The air felt wet from the rain, but thankfully it was starting to stop. The sun was beginning to set behind the grey clouds. Chat Noir extended his baton, flinging himself onto a nearby roof.

" _Please wait for me, my lady. I'm coming and this time I won't mess it up."_


	13. When Two Hearts Connect

Marinette had safely made it home without crying too many more tears. She left Adrien's umbrella by the door and dragged herself up to her room. She removed her wet clothes and changed into dry ones, staying silent throughout the whole process. Tikki didn't say anything. She thought it was best to leave Marinette alone for a while. The poor girl had her heart completely broken.

Marinette laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling. Occasionally she would check her phone or flip to her side, but movement was minimal. She felt drained and had no energy. For a while, Tikki thought Marinette might lay in bed forever. The girl showed no signs of ever getting up.

"Tikki..." Marinette said after a while. "I want to go see Chat Noir. I'm still feeling upset, but I think some time with that alley cat might be good."

"I agree! Just say the magic words!"

"Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette transformed and it felt refreshing. The pain from earlier seemed to wash away. When she was Ladybug, she didn't have to worry about being Marinette. Adrien was nothing more than a civilian. She didn't have to think about him right now.

She jumped onto the balcony and into the air, letting the cool wind breeze past her. She took off running and a familiar black figure in the distance. " _Chat!"_ Ladybug smiled as she ran in his direction. " _I bet he's out searching for me. That kitty has an amazing sense of timing. But when I see him I have to pull myself together. No more crying!"_

With a few tosses of her yo-yo, Ladybug was catching up to Chat Noir. "Chat!" She cried out, causing the black cat to stop in his tracks. "Chat! I'm right over here! Slow down!" Chat Noir had been running at incredible speeds as if he were in a hurry. Ladybug was getting tired trying to keep up.

Chat Noir turned around and saw her face. He could see her tear stains no matter how hard she tried to hide them. His face lit up and he cried, "My lady!" He came barrelling over and gave her a giant hug, almost knocking her over. It caught her off guard. She wasn't expecting an overly affectionate kitten this evening.

"What's with the hug?" Ladybug giggled. "It hasn't been that long since we've last seen each other."

"My lady, I'm sorry. I was a complete idiot. I ignored your feelings... I ignored my own feelings and I've hurt you really bad." Chat Noir began to ramble, constantly repeating how sorry he was. He rest his head on Ladybug's shoulders, tears threatening to spill. Ladybug rubbed his back, unsure of what was going on.

"I think you might have gotten your daydreams confused with reality," Ladybug smiled. She flicked Chat Noir in the forehead and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. Are you okay? Do you have a fever? I can take you home."

Chat Noir shook his head. "Be serious, my lady. This is real! Marinette, I want to let you know I'm sorry because I love you too. I tried to tell myself I didn't because I loved Ladybug, and-"

"Wait, what?" Ladybug took a step back. " _How does he know I'm Marinette?"_ She worried. " _I didn't tell him and nobody else should know and what is all this nonsense about love? Does Chat Noir actually love me? Both sides of me?"_ A blush crept onto her cheeks and she could feel her heart beating. She wasn't prepared for a confession tonight.

"I don't know how you know my other identity," Ladybug sighed, letting herself begin to calm down. "But why are you apologizing? You haven't do anything wrong. I haven't even seen you for a few days. The only what who could be apologizing would be..." A sudden and painful realization hit her.

"A-Adrien?"

Chat Noir nodded and removed his ring. There was a flash of green and suddenly standing in Chat Noir's spot was Adrien Agreste. He looked tired and nervous. He had been afraid how Marinette would react to all this. He prayed that she would forgive him and maybe return his feelings.

"It's me," he smiled, grabbing Ladybug's hands. "It's just me and I'm really sorry for everything I did to hurt you, but I really love you! I love you as Marinette and as Ladybug."

Ladybug's eyes widened in shock. " _This can't be possible! I must be dreaming! Adrien is confessing to me and he's been Chat Noir this whole time? I must be delusional..."_

"T-this is impossible," Ladybug stammered as she shook her head. "Why would you like me? I'm nothing special especially as Marinette. I'm boring and clumsy while you're... well you're you. Sorry if I let down your expectations."

"What? No, Marinette. You've exceeded my expectations. You're kind, beautiful, and funny. You've been my friend and my partner, not to mention a great hero. There isn't a thing I would change about you." The sincerity is his voice struck at Marinette's heart.

"Could I.." Adrien stopped for a moment. "Could I see the girl I love underneath that mask?"

Ladybug whispered a quiet, "spots off" and she returned to be Marinette. She stood in place and stared at Adrien, blue eyes meeting green. " _He likes me... He really likes me!"_ Tears filled her eyes, but this time they were tears of happiness.

Adrien pulled Marinette in for another hug. "I love you so much," he whispered into her ear. "Don't ever forget that."

"I love you too."

Adrien brought his face forward and stared at Marinette's lips. She noticed him watching and closed her eyes. Taking this as an invitation, Adrien leaned forward and kissed her. It was everything he dreamed it would be. Soft and sweet, warm and loving. It was so distinctly Marinette.

After a few more short kisses and Marinette getting all her tears out of her system, they finally had a chance to sit down at talk. They sat on the edge of the rooftop, letting their legs dangle over the edge. They held hands, smiling and giggling. Marinette was the first one to ask questions.

"How did you know it was me?"

"My kwami had to spell it out for me, but the signs were pretty obvious. You and Ladybug were too much alike to begin with. I was an idiot for not connecting the dots. I just wish someone would have told me sooner."

"Sorry, I thought it would be better if we didn't know. I didn't want to put either of us in danger. We still might be in danger, but I don't mind. This is a dream come true."

"Same here, Princess."

There was a loud crack of thunder and huge grey clouds formed overhead. Adrien stood and transformed back into Chat Noir. He offered Marinette his hand and said, "Shall we go, my lady? I think I've had enough rain today. Would you like me to escort you home?"

"I'd like that very much, kitty." Marinette stood up and turned back into Ladybug. The superhero duo ran across the rooftops, smiling to each other the whole time.


	14. Sweet Success

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please enjoy the short, but sweet final chapter to From the Rain. I hope you all enjoyed! :)

The sudden vibrations of her phone jolted Marinette awake. With an annoyed groan, she reached for her phone and pressed the answer button, holding the phone to her ear. "Who is this and why are you calling me at 8:00 in the morning on a weekend?" she yelled at the other side. "It's me," the voice on the other end said. Marinette sat upright immediately and her frown turned into a smile.

"Adrien! Why are you calling so early?"

"I need your help! My father is presenting my design today and I have to go to the meeting too. I can't go alone though. Will you come with? You did help me with most of the design after all." Adrien sounded nervous and desperate. It was unusual for him to sound so scared, but Gabriel Agreste was an intimidating man. Adrien didn't want to be a disappointment.

"Sure!" Marinette quickly answered. "I'll be over in 20 minutes!"

"No need. I'll pick you up. See you in 20!" Adrien hung up the phone, leaving Marinette in shock. "He does everything at his own pace," she sighed as she grabbed a fresh pair of clothes. As she changed, she called over to Tikki and said, "Time to wake up, Tikki! Adrien's coming in 20 minutes!" Tikki rolled over with an annoyed groan, but complied.

After changing and a quick brushing of her hair, Marinette looked out her window to see a familiar looking pair waiting outside the bakery. She rushed downstairs and told her parents a quick good-bye.

"And where might you be off to in such a hurry?" her mother laughed. "Adrien's picking me up!" Marinette explained happily as she bolted out the door. Her parents looked at each other and laughed. They were happy that her daughter had finally connected with the boy she loved and they were excited to have such a wonderful future son-in-law.

Marinette went out to the car and opened the door to be greeted by Adrien. He was wearing rather fancy clothes and Marinette immediately felt underdressed. She knew he was giving a presentation and it was rather formal, but it was obvious she wasn't dressed for the occasion.

"Good morning, my lady," Adrien nodded as Marinette jumped into the car. He held her hand and helped her in. Once she was seated, she let out a loud sigh and said, "So where exactly are we going? You didn't tell me it was a fancy occasion. You're wearing a tie and I'm in a sweater. This is why I can never put you in charge during patrols."

"You're beautiful dressed the way you are," Adrien complimented her. "Besides, I needed you here for moral support. You don't actually need to do anything."

"Support for what? Your design is great. Be confident!"

"I wish I could be. You can probably guess that I'm pretty nervous. I thought I might feel a bit better if you were with me. Is that okay? I know I woke you up early and kinda forced this on you. I can drop you back of at home if you'd like." Adrien looked a little hesitant as if he felt bad for bringing Marinette along.

She quickly shook her head and replied. "For you I'd do anything! I'm having to be here and support you!" They both blushed at her embarrassing proclamation.

The car drove a bit further and finally arrived at Gabriel Agreste's main office. Adrien helped Marinette out of the car and towards the front entrance. "Just stick with me," he whispered in her ear. "Everyone knows me here." Marinette simply nodded, but was distracted by the regal appearance of the building, inside and out.

Everything was so orderly and nicely laid out. There beautiful flowers and potted plants in every corner. Portraits of famous models and designs lined the walls. People in elite uniforms ran around, trying to get their jobs done. "So this is what it's like on the inside..." Marinette thought in awe. She had only seen the building from the outside and dreamed of what the inside might be like.

"My father's office is on the top floor," Adrien explained as he took Marinette to the elevator. They stepped in and slowly started heading up. As they waited in silence, Marinette was reading Adrien's body language. His shoulders were tense and he had a nervous expression. She grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze to let him know she was there for him. He blushed and glanced up at her. Marinette returned an eager smile.

The elevator arrived at the top floor and the couple stepped out. There was a small hallway that led to a single door at the end. Adrien knocked on the door and it was opened by Nathalie. "You're here on time," she said firmly. "Good. Please come in and take a seat. Your father will be ready shortly."

Marinette and Adrien sat down on a black leather couch as they waited for Mr. Agreste. Marinette found it odd that Adrien had to wait to see his father like people waited to see the dentist. Adrien was rummaged through his bag and pulled out a folder that contained the finished design. He opened it up and ran his fingers over the paper. "This is it..." he thought.

"Adrien, your father can see you now."

The two teens stood up and headed towards another door. Adrien took a deep breath and then turned the knob. The opened door revealed a large meeting room where Gabriel Agreste and six other very official looking men were sitting. The other men seemed to be laughing with each other while Gabriel had a serious expression. His eyes were trained on Adrien from the moment the boy entered the room.

"Why if it isn't little Adrien?" one of the men laughed heartily. "It's been ten years since I saw you last. Look how grown up you are! And is this your girlfriend? My, she's a pretty one indeed." The men all nodded in agreement. Marinette was flattered by their compliment.

"Thank you, sir," Adrien smiled. He pulled out a chair for Marinette and sat down himself. He adjusted his tie and took another deep breath. He took out the folder and laid out the design in front of the men and his father.

"This is the design you requested," he said slowly. "It's inspired by none other than Ladybug. It's intended for girls and meant to be casual, but cute. I want people to be able to harness the courage and confidence of Ladybug when they're wearing it."

"A very ambitious design," another man chuckled. "I wonder if Ladybug would approve."

"She definitely does," Marinette thought to herself. "In fact, she helped him design it."

"I must say the balance of the design is quite good," the oldest man added. "This certainly does look like something we would carry in one of our lines and I think it would sell quite well with the younger generations. Ladybug is all the rage. It's simple, yet attractive. I like it. Gabriel, it appears your son has inherited your talents."

"I couldn't have done it without Marinette though!" Adrien quickly interjected. "I'm a mess without her. She's actually a designer herself and she's way more talented than I am!"

"That's not true," Marinette replied humbly. "Adrien has lots of potential. He just needs practice. I'm really not that good either."

"I think I can prove that wrong," Adrien smiled slyly. He stood up and headed over to the corner of the room where there was something under a large, black cloth. Marinette hadn't noticed it when she came in. It looked like something was hiding underneath.

"I asked Nathalie if she could prepare this for me ahead of time," Adrien explained. "I didn't want today to be all about me. Marinette deserves recognition and praise as well. So I pulled some strings and I got this officially made!" Adrien pulled the cloth away to reveal a mannequin wearing the design that Marinette had submitted for the contest days earlier.

"Adrien!" Marinette gasped. She stood up and ran over to it. "It's perfect!" she thought as she examined every thread and lace. "It's just like I imagined!" While the Marinette was gushing over the outfit, the executives began to wander over and examine it too.

"This is quite fantastic!"

"I like this one a lot too!"

"Could we add this to the upcoming fall line?"

Their approval and praise was unrelenting. Marinette's heart soared as she heard some of the biggest names in the fashion industry compliment her work. It was a dream come true.

"You've found a talented young lady, Adrien," one of the men laughed. "Don't ever lose her. I can tell she's very important to you." Adrien nodded and thought, "More than you could ever guess, sir."

All of a sudden, Gabriel Agreste stood up and the whole room went quiet. His presence commanded silence even from his closest executives and "friends". He cleared his throat and looked his son in the eye. "Very impressive Adrien," he said with a nod of approval. "I will be putting your design in the next line along with Ms. Marinette's if I have her permission."

"My permission?" Marinette exclaimed. "Of course! But I submitted into another contest, so I'm not sure if that's okay..."

Adrien laughed and patted her on the back. "My father sponsors that contest and has access to all the submitted designs. That's how I was able to get someone to make yours."

"Did you plan this all along, you silly kitty?"

"It might've been bouncing around in my head for a while."

"He was watching over me this whole time," Marinette beamed. "I never had anything to worry about."

"Pardon me, but I have another meeting I must attend," Gabriel said, exiting towards the door. "Adrien, I was pleasantly surprised by your work and I'm looking forward to seeing more from you and Miss Marinette in the future."

"Thank you, father!"

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste!"

Gabriel nodded and then left the room, the other executives shuffling out behind him. They each gave Marinette and Adrien a handshake and a "congratulations". Once everyone had left the room, Adrien sat back into a chair and slumped down.

"That was more terrifying than an akuma!" he sighed. "I thought my legs were going to give out." Marinette laughed and sat down on his lap. "You put on a good show," she smiled at him. "I couldn't even tell you were nervous. You turned on some of that Chat Noir charm."

"I couldn't have done it without you."

"We're partners, aren't we? I'll always be here for you."

"Marinette?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
